The XYZ Affair
by YBNorml
Summary: Complete. Slash, AU, pairings: Bryan/Rei, Hiro/Hiromi, Yuriy/Kai, Max/Tyson, Brooklyn/Raoul
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Here is the full summary, I'm taking it off of my bio page so I thought I'd put it here.

Pairings: Tala/Kai, Bryan/Rei, Max/Tyson,Hiro/Hiromi, Brooklyn/Raul.

Summary: Tala is the favored assasin and spy of Bryan Kuznetsov a powerful gang leader. Kai Hiwatari is a street rat, outcast and good friend of the town beauty Rei Kon. When Tala is assigned the mission of delivering to Bryan what he wants most (coughReicough), he runs into Kai who will stop at nothing to make his mission a complete failure. Meanwhile, Tyson (Tala's clingy ex-lover) is being forced into a rather awkward state of awareness by the beautiful fashion model Max Tate. Max is not one for patience, he knows what he wants, and he usually gets it. And what he wants is Tyson, but will the bluenette dragon be able to let go of his old love? Hiromi, Bryan's baby sister who he spoils beyond reason, wants nothing more but to break free from her older brother. She wants to prove that she can survive on her own, and that she can get what she wants by herself. What she wants: Hiro Kinomiya, Tyson's older brother. Tyson's older brother has more than a little grudge against Bryan and a certain assasin who broke his little brother's heart. So, Hiromi is given the cold shoulder by the witty, stubborn, drool worthy Hiro that she's quickly falling for. In this world, there are no beyblades, just the bit beasts that these people weild with a frightening power. Will a Wolf and Phoenix see past hatred and find love? Will a Water Sprite and a Dragon heal each other's wounds? Can a Falcon and a Tiger ever see past physical beauty? Will the Dragon's older brother abandon his grudges to be a Falcon's little sister's saving grace?

...Stay tuned on the WB...X3 Sorry I couldn't help it.

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**The XYZ Affair**

Chapter 1

_As has been foretold by the creators of all spirits and worlds, the time has come for it all happen. The wolf will fall in love with the phoenix, a tiger will fall from grace, and a falcon will lift him up on his wings. A dragon will forget his past regrets, and learn to love again. A water sprite will see past spite, and throw away his mirror. The dragon's kin will let old grudges go, and a falcon's most prized possession will break free. As has been foretold by the creators of all spirits and worlds, the time has come for it all to happen…_

The air was damp and cold, and his blood was starting to ooze out in odd places. He coughed as he slid down the brick wall down to meet ground. His bones ached, and he longed for the warmth that his apartment promised him, but his refuge was all the way across town. Shaky groans escaped his lips. Yuriy Ivanov was not a happy man. He had just spent the night beating the crap out of a wealthy business man that wasn't entirely helpless. How could Yuriy have known that this thick-wallet knew how to kick box?

He touched one thumb to his split lip and winced. That was going to be sore for a couple of days. "I'd love to heal you master, if you hadn't already worn out my powers tonight."

"Yeah, I know I made a mistake, can you lay off now Wolborg!?" Yuriy growled.

The wolf spirit (currently in human form) was kneeling on the slick asphalt next to him. His long white hair was draped over one shoulder in pale wisps. Curling a feathery strand around one pointed fingertip, Wolborg took a breath.

"I didn't say you made a mistake, I was simply expressing my regret at not being able to banish your discomfort."

"Riiight." Yuriy sighed, and leaned his head back against the cool brick. Oh how he wished he could just go home right now.

"I could give you a ride home if you want." Wolborg offered. Yuriy gave him a pleading look. Wolborg's bones cracked and snapped and his skin stretched to a fine tautness. He was quickly morphing into his original canine form. Once he was returned to his animal totem shape, he knelt down to allow his master to mount him. Yuriy hauled himself onto Wolborg's back and feebly gripped the wolf's fur. _You might have to stay a little bit awake for the ride there, master. I don't want you falling off. _((Alright, if I have to…)) With that, the five foot tall spirit bounded out of the alley and down the street.

Rei set the expensive plate down in front of his companion, clicking his tongue softly. "What am I going to do with you Kai? I should force you to move in with me, at least that way I could make sure you ate three healthy meals a day."

"Rei, I told you not to worry about things like that, you're my friend yes, but not my mother." Kai mumbled.

Kai's two toned blue hair was cut short, in some places a little too short. The bangs that fell in front of his eyes were choppy and uneven, and the small nub pulled off of his neck with a rubber band was full of split ends. Without daily access to a bath the stench of the street hung about him, and his face was covered in dirt. His wrists were bony, and his fingers long and spindly from malnutrition. Using one of his skeletal fingers he picked up a grape and popped it into his mouth. He chewed slowly and attempted to swallow, but this was no easy task. After almost choking twice, and really hurting his throat, he managed to get the meager portion down.

Kai could feel Rei's worried eyes on him and it only made him feel worse, "I'm fine Rei, you made dinner for you too right? Why don't you sit down and eat…?"

"I'm _fine_, besides, I'm not hungry."

Kai sighed. Feeling ambitious he thought he might go for a bite of steak. He picked up his knife and fork and set about cutting a small piece for himself. Rei was still watching him, and Kai thought he might explode. He hated it when people worried about him like Rei was now. If Rei weren't his one and only friend, Kai might scream at him. But Rei was all he had, so he kept quiet.

"Kai, you're going to be staying with me for a few weeks."

"Rei, I told you, I don't want to live with you. I'm not a charity case for you alright?"

"I don't think of you as a charity case," Rei murmured, "I think of you as my best friend who's dead on his feet, quite literally."

It was at this moment that Kai chose to try and swallow his bit of steak. Unaccustomed to swallowing food, his throat tensed up and his gag reflex flared. Kai coughed, hiccupped and spat up the food onto his plate. Even after the offending bit had been removed, his throat still protested and forced Kai to cough for another few minutes. When he was finished, Kai felt so exhausted that all he wanted to do was sleep. His eyelids drooped, and he fell face forward into his mashed potatoes.

"Just shut up…you had me at 'hello'." Tyson whispered along with the movie. He shoved a spoonful of ice cream into his mouth and sniffled. Tears slid down his cheeks, and he barely noticed his older brother Hiro enter the room.

"Tyson, you have to stop doing this. How bout we go out to dinner or something?" Hiro offered.

Tyson didn't respond, instead he stuck his spoon (actually an ice cream scoop) back into the carton only to find that there was no more ice cream to be had. This caused his tears to flow more abundantly, as he dropped the empty tub and grabbed a pillow. His anguished scream was muffled by the couch cushion. Hiro watched on, helpless. He didn't know how to help his baby brother, who was still suffering from the big heartbreak of his life.

Just thinking of Yuriy Ivanov made Hiro's blood boil. What he did to his baby dragon was cruel. How could someone do something like that? How could you promise to love someone unconditionally and then run at the first sign of real commitment?

Hiro calmed down at the feel of Tyson snuggling against his stomach. He wrapped his arms around his brother and hoisted him up onto his hip. Tyson was fading fast into sleep, and Hiro knew the boy had classes the next day. So quickly and softly, Hiro carried his brother to his room and tucked him into bed. If Hiro had his way, Yuriy would be on his way to hell in a heart beat.

Hiromi stared bitterly at the floor. The tension in the room was so thick you would have to cut through it with a chain saw. She fidgeted with the hem of her skirt, and winced as her big brother began to speak.

"Hiromi, why do you want to go out on your own? You've got no work experience, no way of supporting yourself, and so far you've lived a life of luxury. You have everything you want here! Life outside of this building is a lot different then what you make of it." Bryan was still sitting in his office chair, staring her down.

"But I don't have freedom here Bry-bry! I want to live by myself and make my own money. I want to be a grown up, I'm twenty one for goodness sakes!"

"'Romi…" Bryan sighed, "I'll always be here for you, and you know that. If after a couple days you realize your dream isn't really all that great, you can come back. If you don't come back after three weeks, then I won't let you back in."

"That's fine, because I _won't_ be back."

"All that I ask…is that you take Yuriy with you."

Hiromi's breath hitched in her throat, "W-what?!"

"'Romi, you know my status amongst the other gangs in the area. They know how important you are to me; they could kidnap you, rape you, and/or hold you for ransom. I don't want any of that happening to you. Yuriy can still carry out my missions but in the meantime I would appreciate it if you let him keep you safe."

"Bryaaaan! I don't want a body guard."

"It's your choice, stay here and you won't need one considering there are guards everywhere. Leave to fulfill your dream of supporting yourself, and take Yuriy as your body guard. Your choice." Bryan shrugged, holding his hands up under his chin.

Hiromi groaned. She wanted to get out of this place so bad she could barely stand it. She didn't have a problem with Yuriy, they were actually very close, and she loved him as a big brother. But that wasn't the point. The point was that Bryan believed she couldn't take care of herself. Yes, she was woman, his baby sister, but that didn't mean that they had to keep her in a glass case like a porcelain doll. She nodded, "That's fine. I'm still leaving, let your top hit man off of work to baby sit your sister if you want."

With that, she stalked out of the room. Her jingle bell combat boots were ringing as she bolted down the hall. The clanking of her feet pounding on the steel flooring stung her ears, and she almost ran into her bedroom door. She typed in the code to unlock her door, and watched as it automatically slid open with an electronic hiss.

Warm tropical air wafted over her as she entered the garden in the main room. The door clicked shut behind her, locking her away in the private paradise. A colorful peacock strode out from the trees and stopped in front of her. His long neck towered above her, and he leaned his face down to look her in the eyes. "Oh Peony, he still thinks I'm a little weakling. Its not like I'm the little sister of a major mob boss or anything, it's not like I haven't learned how to defend myself over the years."

The beautiful creature took a step back, and was soon encased in swirling lights and a soft wind. Moments later before her stood a boy with short spiky rainbow hair and narrow golden eyes. His body was covered in a navy blue form fitting body suit. He stepped closer to her, and enveloped her in a stiff hug. She knew he hated these shows of emotion, and almost stopped him from holding her.

"You don't have to hug me you know…"

"I know, but I want to." He whispered, "It makes you feel better."

Hiromi smiled, as she leaned into the embrace.

"What the fuck?! Why isn't he at the airport right now?" Max Tate was not a happy fashion model. He had just spent over twenty hours flying from the east coast of the U.S. to the west coast, to the east coast of Japan, to some small valley. He had gotten absolutely no sleep because he was notorious for his in ability to sleep on airplanes. Now, his chauffer was not here. The man who was supposed to be picking him up and taking him to his hotel was not here.

"I'll check the hotel's records sir, I believe that the driver you requested should have already been there. But possibly he was held up in some traffic. We have his cell phone number, so maybe if sir would allow us; we could reach him and find out where he is." Max agreed and was put on hold.

Meanwhile, Max shifted his bags off of his shoulder, and he strode over to an airport bench to wait. He knew he was getting some definite looks, what with his international status and all. But damn was it annoying. Commonly he loved the attention; he thrived off of it, especially on the runway. However, right now, it was just bothersome and he had no idea how to get rid of it. Max Tate, world famous fashion model, who for unknown reasons has decided to take a year long break from the runway, is currently sitting in a small town airport with only a few bags and NO escort.

"Master, perhaps if you used language that was a little less harsh, they might be more apt to help you." Max looked up at his bit beast Draciel. The petit water sprite was standing in front of him comfortably, unaffected by the stares he was getting. Even though Draciel wasn't in his totem form, he was still eye catching. Draciel was dressed in top of the line designer name clothes, and his aqua blue eyes were framed by his baby blue locks. Quaint hands were holding his bags, and his lithe body was downright huggable.

"Eh, possibly." It was then that the hotel service came back on, "Tate-sama, your chauffer is on his way to your arrival gate and should be there shortly."

"Thank you." With that Max hung up and stood, his eyes searching the crowd for someone with a sign that read 'Max Tate'. After another half an hour, Max was really starting to get pissed. 'He should be there shortly' his ass! Max hauled all of his bags over his shoulders, and stormed through the arrival gate, unknowingly brushing past a man with greeting sign labeled 'Max Tate' as he did so. Once outside in the freezing cold, he started to look for a phone booth. Why he hadn't found any inside he didn't know. He decided to blame it on the fact that this was a small town airport. Max found one out where the winds were especially biting. While balancing the phonebook in one hand, he punched in the number for a cab company.

This cab didn't take thirty minutes to show up. Max threw his bags into the back seat and Draciel climbed in after him. With the door slamming shut, it was then that Max saw the hotel chauffer walking briskly out of the front gates towards a limo. But before he could say anything, the cab driver was weaving through the traffic at dangerous speeds. Max groaned and Draciel shook his head at his master's misfortune.


	2. Chapter 2

The XYZ Affair

The XYZ Affair

Chapter 2

Rei lightly picked Kai up. The fact that his friend was so light in his arms frightened him. Most people didn't hang around Kai, because around this small town, he was known as someone not to be bothered with. Because of his curt replies, and having been known to do anything for money he had been ostracized for years. What worried him most was what exactly Kai did for money. Rei had been the only one to really get know the bluenette. Some of the things that Kai told him made him cry himself to sleep at night. Kai had sold his body on more than one account to get a week's worth of food. He had stolen and cheated and a number of other things just to get some food let alone a place to stay. But because of his stubborn ways he still refused to come and live with his one and only friend.  
Rei set Kai down in his (Rei's) bed, and tucked him in. A motherly frown settled itself on his lips as he leant forward to place a goodnight kiss on Kai's forehead. There was no way that Kai would get past him this time. He was making sure that Kai stayed here with him. Considering the state the phoenix was in there was no way that he could protest.  
It was at that moment that Dranzer entered the room. She was dressed in a plain white dress, but it suited her well. In her human form she had been asked out on more than one occasion. Dranzer stepped fully into the room, her eyes only on her master. She hurried to his side and took one of his hands in hers. Worry filled her crimson eyes as she brushed his hair our of his face. Kai always looked troubled in his sleep, as if he was fighting off some monster but failing horribly.  
"He listens to you, have him drink some water when he wakes up." Rei whispered. Dranzer nodded to him, though her gaze never left Kai's face. She climbed farther onto the bed and lied down next to her master. She rested her head on his chest and wrapped her arms around his waist. As he saw the peaceful look that overtook Kai's face at Dranzer's touch and pang of jealousy surged through him. Not in a romantic sense, but as friend. Rei wanted to be able to erase the horrors from Kai's mind, and to make him smile. But he never seemed able to achieve that simple wish. Maybe he just wasn't wishing right.

Brooklyn shot a foot into the air when he heard the familiar voice. "Brookie!!" Raul was back from his mission. The cuddly red headed blob had now attached himself to Brooklyn's torso. 'Brookie' heaved a sigh and continued walking to his quarters.  
"Guess what?! The boss is promoting me because of it. I knew he would. I've been working my ass off for Kuznetsov these past few weeks and I think he's finally noticing." Raul squealed at the last part.  
"Wait." Brooklyn stopped in his storming, "You're being promoted? That means that you won't be on the same living quarter as me."  
"Yep, its so sad isn't it?" At this Raul's happy demeanor deflated. While Brooklyn swallowed, "I think I need a minute."  
"Awww Brookie." Raul took Brooklyn's strangled voice as tears while 'Brookie' was merely trying to restrain the need to leap in the air and whoop. Brooklyn swerved into an empty room and shut the door. Then, he threw a victorious fist into the air, and proceeded to dance around the room. He was FREE! No more Raul! After he had finally composed himself he reentered the hallway where Raul awaited him in tears.  
"So when are you moving your things?" Brooklyn asked, "I mean, isn't that rank's section across the compound?"  
"Yeah," Raul sniffled, "I'm moving them the day after tomorrow."  
"I could help you if you want me to." Brooklyn offered, "That way your moving could get done sooner."  
"No! I don't want to move until the very last moment, that way we can have more time together! Ooh, we could have a slumber party tonight Brookie, with Yuriy and Hiromi! I'm sure they'd love to come!"  
Brooklyn felt like crying, and usually he was a very strong person emotionally.

"No way in hell." Brooklyn turned and continued down the hall. Raul, predictably, followed.

"Oh come on Brookie! You know you'd have a good time…"

"No, I know I'd feel like murder-suicide." Raul pouted at that, but was saved from speaking as Yuriy lumbered down the hall way.

"Yuriy, there you are! Just the man I wanted to see." Raul unlatched from Brooklyn's arm, and clamped onto Yuiry's.

"He's trying to get you to come to a slumber party because he's moving to the other side of the building. He wants us and Hiromi to be there. I said no way in hell. Please show me your mercy by agreeing with me." Brooklyn clenched his fists while awaiting Yuriy's answer. The wolf shrugged, showing no sign of being perturbed by Raul's rather intimate touch. He mocked deep thought, before turning to his new limb.

"Sounds like a great idea Raul, when is this slumber party? I'm sure that I can get Hiromi to come, you know how she loves those sleep-overs of yours."

Brooklyn had a hard time keeping his growl from bursting out of his mouth. Yuriy challenged him with a raised eyebrow, but Brooklyn said nothing. He simply trudged down the hallway. Well, if the traitor was going to go, that still didn't mean that Brooklyn had to go. It just meant that Yuriy would be at the hands of his unbridled fury later on.

"Its tonight, that is, if Brookie is going to come too." Brooklyn stopped cold. His whole body stiffened as he felt Raul start to invade his personal bubble. "Raul, I'm not coming. I told you already that I don't want to come."

"But Brookieeeeeee!" Raul threw himself in front of Brooklyn so that he could see the tears welling up in the smaller man's eyes. Brooklyn twitched, and for a minute looked like he might have a fit. Raul pushed out his lower lip until it was so wide an aircraft carrier could have landed on it. His shoulders began to tremble, his pouting lips quivered, and the dams holding back the waterfalls were about to burst. "Fine!"

Brooklyn threw his hands in the air as a sign of defeat. Immediately Raul returned to normal and gifted him with a triumphant grin. Brooklyn scowled and his eyes narrowed, that little manipulating tramp was gonna get it some day.

Yuiry came up behind him and set a heavy hand on his shoulder as they both watched the petit red head skip down the corridor. Brooklyn sighed and let his head fall into his hands. Yuriy merely chuckled at his misfortune. "Why don't you go out with him already and make us all happy? The sexual tension between you is just as bad as in a stupid action movie with a corny romantic sub-plot!"

Brooklyn didn't have the strength to shoot back a sarcastic comment to that, so he resigned himself to sulking down the hallway to his personal quarters.

"Tyson! Wake up!" Hiro shouted. He stomped his feet in the doorway to his brother's bedroom. The little dragon hadn't woken up when his alarm had gone off, and now he was going to be late for classes. Hiro had torn the covers off of him, thrown books at him from the doorway, poked him with a pretty sharp butcher's knife, and so far Tyson still hadn't greeted the day. The most Hiro had gotten from him was an annoyed grunt. Suddenly, just as Hiro was giving up and about to storm off down the hall, Tyson shot out of bed and started rummaging around in his closet.

"Oh my god! I'm going to be late!"

Tyson groaned as he slumped his way into the back of the lecture hall. He'd already missed half of it, and he was sure that his professor was going to pull him aside for a little 'chat'. Tyson was majoring in the fine arts. He had been gifted with the talent for drawing and painting. Though most of his recent works had been stunning portraits of a red head with ice ridden eyes, they still helped pay the bills. It was his last year in this course, and soon he'd be graduating top of his class. Or, he would be graduating top of his class if he didn't keep missing lectures like he almost did today.

He whipped out his sketch pad and started doodling. Not surprisingly what was poured onto the paper before him was the skeleton of a familiar face. Soon with the aid of expensive colored pencils, blue eyes graced the soft features. Red hair followed soon after, and it wasn't long before the face of his ex-lover was lying in front of him. It took all of his will power not to start crying again.

Yuriy had been his first real love. The kind of love that makes you so self involved its like there's no one in the world but you and that person. The hot headed assassin had loved him like no one had before, his kisses were surprisingly gentle. They would go to movies, and then go out to dinner at romantic restaurants. They got so close, and Tyson was sure that in a few years…maybe they could move to the next step, marriage maybe. But only a couple of days after Tyson had brought up the subject, Yuriy had broken up with him, claiming that he was seeing someone else. Tyson later found out that he wasn't seeing anyone, except the only male prostitute in town every other Wednesday since before Tyson and Yuriy had gotten together.

Several months had passed since their break up, yet Tyson still hadn't found a way to let go. On his way out of the lecture hall, Tyson sold the rough sketch of Yuriy for 2,900 yen on the street corner. He walked around the corner and started towards the art store. He was determined to buy a new canvas and start a new piece. He was going to finish a painting that didn't involve his old boyfriend, and would get him a decent amount of money.

While he was in the art store Tyson's eyes roved over each and every brush and all of the waiting and ready canvases on the shelves. Finally his gaze lit upon a canvas that he wasn't sure he could afford. It was behind the others on the shelves, and was roughly six by nine feet. He'd probably have to have it delivered, and he had no idea where he would put it. What more was, what would he paint on a piece that big?

The answer walked by the window, a beautiful blonde man talking into a cell phone with a smaller blue haired boy following him. The scene was encased with an autumn wind that was swirling leaves around them. It was threatening to rain, but somehow Tyson knew it wouldn't. It was that view, through the store front window that would cover the canvas that Tyson was buying at that moment. He didn't know how much it was, or which debit card he was using. Probably Hiro's, and said brother would most likely be angry later, but right now Tyson was in trance. He was hypnotized by the scene that had been burned into his retinas not minutes before.

The woman at the desk asked him if he wanted the canvas at his house today or tomorrow. "Today." Tyson all but ordered. Did he have the right paint sets at home? What about the right brushes? It wasn't until he got home and saw the look on Hiro's face, with the canvas behind him did he wake up from his dream like state. It was then that he realized that he had just spent 186,014 yen at the art store.


	3. Chapter 3

The XYZ Affair

**The XYZ Affair**

Chapter 3

Max Tate was pacing his luxurious suite with a troubled expression. So far, the only men in this town who had responded positively to his quite blatant flirting were already taken. It was clear that homophobia didn't exist in this town; after all, there were too many bisexual people. It was almost like San Francisco.

Draciel was in the living room watching television. Ever since he had first discovered the magical talking box, he had become an addict. It had been the same thing with sugar. Everywhere they went, Max made sure that the kitchens were pre-stocked with all forms of candies and sugar. After Draciel had started consuming candy faster than a five year old, Max had found out it actually helped Draciel in battle. The amount of sugar the water sprite inhaled every day was nutritional for his body, and kept him in good shape. So whereas a five year old tyke would eat twenty five chocolate bars and get sick, Draciel ate fifty and was as calm as a Buddhist monk. Max shook his head, and meandered into his living room.

Draciel, sensing his master's presence, turned away from the television. "Yes, Master?"

Max didn't say anything. He shuffled over to where Draciel was sitting, and sat down behind him. In an uncharacteristic way, Max wrapped his arms around his bit beast and friend. Draciel turned in his master's arms to look at him. Max wasn't himself; he wasn't whining or talking about himself. Not sure how to go about fixing his master's problem, Draciel leant into the embrace. Max's breathing evened out until it was obvious he was about to fall asleep. Draciel used his powers of levitation to move them to the couch. Once there, he made himself comfortable in Max's arms.

Draciel, too, might have fallen asleep had the appearance of another bring him to full alertness. A beautiful winding dragon was lying on the floor next to the television, preening his blue white scales. When he looked up, their eyes locked. Blue met steel grey. Draciel eased himself out of his master's arms and moved forward. It was apparent that this soul had no violent intention in mind; if he had wanted to attack he would have done so by now. Draciel assumed his totem form and knelt down in front of the dragon. Smiling in welcome he attempted to form a telepathic link with his fellow.

/Who are you?/

\Dragoon.\

/Why are you here?/

\I'm getting a picture for my master\

/Of…?/

\Your master.\

/Why?/

\Because he wishes to paint a picture of him on a ridiculously large canvas\

Draciel snickered, /Well then, I have a picture I can lend you. If you don't mind me asking, who is your master?/

Dragoon rose into the air and floated after Draciel, who flew in his liquid form through the expansive suite towards his master's personal quarters. \Tyson Kinomiya\

/I see. You may tell Kinomiya-san that my master's name is Maxwell Tate./ Draciel landed in front of his master's dresser and summoned the picture out of its frame. He brushed his moist fingers across the back and felt a copy of the picture appear in his other hand. After returning the original to its frame he handed the copy to Dragoon. /There you are, you may keep it. Do you have to return right away? Or would you like to stay awhile? I have copious amounts of sugar./

\I have to returm immediately, I'm sorry. But maybe some other time?\ Dragoon smiled.

/Certainly./ And with that, Dragoon vanished, photograph safely in his palm.

Raul was very happy. Techno music was pounding in his quarters, and he was seated next to the love of his life. However, said love of his life didn't look very happy about it. Thankfully Hiromi and Yuriy made a wonderful buffer for the tension. They were playing a poker game that consisted of betting various eyeliner pencils, whilst drinking beer. Raul decided to attempt a one-sided conversation with Brooklyn, his favorite game, "Brookie, why don't we join Yuriy and Hiromi's game? I'm sure it'd be more fun then sitting here pouting."

Brooklyn didn't reply for moment. But a smirk gracing his lips was a dead give away for what was to come next, "I didn't know you were so keen on eyeliner, Raul."

"I'm not, I don't wear it. I'm just saying that playing a game would be more entertaining then this!" Raul motioned to the glare in Brooklyn's eyes.

"Well, you're the one who invited me, so you have only yourself to blame for not having fun."

"But Brookie, you ARE fun, as soon as we can get you to drink some beer! Heavens knows that you can't hold your liquor worth anything."

"My statement stands, if you have to intoxicate me to have fun, you have some serious issues and should probably consult them with a professional psychologist."

Raul groaned. He stood up and balled his fists, with a heated glare he stared down at Brooklyn. "Why do you have to be so mean all the time? What did I ever do to you?"

A tense silence flooded the room as Raul's kitten chose that moment to play with the mini-bullhorn of the stereo cord. The plug was pulled and the techno music stopped. Yuriy and Hiromi held their breath, Brooklyn had been very patient with Raul that night, and he hadn't said a lot of what he had wanted to. But Raul had just asked him the wrong question at the wrong time.

"Maybe I wouldn't be mean all the time if a flirty, fruity, manipulative tramp wasn't clinging to me all the time! I'm sorry if my sarcastic remarks and constantly ticked off expression wasn't a big enough of a clue for you, but I'm not interested in you! I don't like you, I despise spending time with you, and I didn't want to be here tonight, yet you manipulated me into coming anyways. Then you have the nerve to bitch about me being mean when I was forced to come to a party I didn't want to be at!" Brooklyn drew in a large breath, and just then realized that he was standing up in front of Raul. Raul looked up at him with an indefinable expression. The petit flame-haired boy tore out of the main area and locked himself in the bathroom. Yuriy and Hiromi leapt to their feet. Hiromi hurried over to the bathroom door and started knocking, asking if she could come in. Yuriy glared at Brooklyn, before shoving him out of Raul's quarters.

Brooklyn sighed, and without a trace of guilt in his step, he headed towards his private quarters.

When Kai woke up, he found a glass of water on his night stand. Dranzer was sitting on his bed watching him. As soon as she saw his eyes begin to open, she picked up the cup and forced water down his throat. Kai knew better then to protest. As much as he loved his bit beast Dranzer, he knew that messing with her when she was worried about him was not a wise choice. He had the scars to prove it too. When he had finished off all of the water, she calmly set the glass down on the nightstand and stared him straight in the eyes.

"We are staying with Rei."

"Yes, Dranzer."

"You will be polite, and eat what he tells you to eat, and get bed rest when he or I say so."

"Yes, Dranzer."

"We will not leave until you are back to good health, and then we are to be living in the apartment that Rei purchased for you while you were sleeping."

"Yes, Dranzer…wait a second!" Kai would have lurched into a sitting position had his condition not stopped him from doing so. "Why in the fuck did Rei BUY me an apartment?"

"He did so in order to give you a place to live, that wouldn't be his apartment. You said that you didn't want to live here, he will honor your request after you are healthy again. After that, you will have a nice place to live. I believe that he's furnishing it right now, I've only seen a few pictures of the interior, but it is quite the place, Kai. You will be thanking him when he gets back. He bought you a waterside apartment, in a very expensive district. He's spending a pretty penny on you, Kai." Dranzer watched him sigh and close his eyes.

"But I don't want all of the stuff he's giving me. I can take care of myself, I don't need his charity!"

"Your mastery in the care of yourself is apparent Kai. All people who take expert care of themselves faint into a pile of mashed potatoes." Dranzer arched a mocking eye brow at him.

"Oh shut up!" Kai tried to block out his sarcastic bit beast but failed.

"He's also opening up a sub account for you. It will provide you with a monthly allowance. I don't know how much exactly that will add up to, but I'm sure it will be anything but a modest amount. It will pay for entertainment expenses, clothing, food, and transportation. Rei is covering rent fees." Dranzer paused before saying sternly, "You are not turning down his offer Kai. This will be good for you. You call it charity, but Rei worries about you Kai. He's your best friend, and he cares for you, a lot. He just wants to make sure you're safe and healthy."

"I know." Kai heaved a sigh, only to launch himself into a coughing spell. Dranzer rolled her eyes at her master before leaving the room to refill his water glass and get him some yoghurt to try. Idiot.

**TBC…**


	4. Chapter 4

The XYZ Affair

**The XYZ Affair**

Chapter 4

Rei stroked his chin thoughtfully. Which color would Kai prefer for his bedroom walls? Royal blue, or a hot scorching red? Sighing, he decided on the red. He treaded down the hall towards the living room where the work had been finished. So far, the only room left that needed to be painted and furnished was Kai's bedroom.

The living room's walls were a pale blue, and there was a white crown molding lining the place where the walls touched the ceiling. A comfortable window seat was on the far wall, covered in matching throw pillows. Flanking the window seat were tall white book cases that rose up from the floor like capital A's. The couch was more comfortable then stylish, and Rei knew that was what mattered to Kai. The television opposite the couch was more of a room accessory then something that Kai would actually use. Rei just put it there to define the room.

Rei groaned and fell down onto the couch, curling up into himself like his neko-jinn instincts forced him to. Kai would love the apartment, Rei was sure of it, whether or not the stubborn phoenix would actually admit it was not predictable. Feeling his cell phone trying to migrate towards his crotch, Rei pulled it out of his pocket and flipped it open. "Yes?"

"Rei, the deviant is on the loose and heading your way."

"What?!" Rei screeched. Kai was heading towards his new apartment? But it had only been a month since he had first moved in with Rei. Kai wasn't completely healthy yet!

"I'm sorry, as much as he usually listens to me he did put up a valid argument."

"Oh yeah Dranzer, and what was that?"

"Um, hold on. Let me ask Drigger, I forgot what it was."

Rei slapped his forehead and listened to his bit beast converse with his companion.

"Oh, because he looked scary and we couldn't stop him."

"You guys are so hopeless."

With that Rei hung up and shoved his cell phone back into his pocket. It had been a long tiring month since Kai's infamous kiss with his mashed potatoes that fateful evening. After four whole weeks of lots of bed rest, three healthy meals a day and Dranzer keeping a watchful eye on him, Kai was starting to improve. He had gained a lot of weight, not too much weight, but enough to not look like the grim reaper. Technically, Kai could leave the house when he wanted now, but Rei liked to believe that Kai still wasn't healthy enough. Rei was amazed at how used to coming home to Kai every night he had become. Now that Kai was ready to move into his apartment, Rei didn't want him to.

There was a loud knock on the door, and Rei shuffled down the hall to the entry way. He unlocked the door and threw it open. Sure enough, there stood Kai, who stormed past him and began his inspection. Kai was clumsily moving about, and Rei followed silently behind, not wanting to incur the bluenette's wrath. It wasn't long before Kai found the kitchen.

The kitchen had been an interesting decorating experience for Rei. The walls were an egg shell yellow, and the floors were a black and white marble checkerboard. The counter tops were made up of large and considerably thick sheets of pastel green tile. The sink was a practical two part stainless steel model with an old fashioned pump tap. There were two doors at the far end of the kitchen, one leading to stairwells which then lead to a private entrance/garage. The other was the door to the dining room. The refrigerator was a crisp stainless steel and the most efficient model used by chefs today. The freezer was a ample sized drawer on the bottom, keeping the cool air near the floor, while the wide door on top opened to the 'fridge' part. There were two ovens on the side opposite the sink, freezer and dishwasher. Also on this side were the microwave and two toasters. The cabinets underneath the counters and above were all the finest ebony.

Kai attempted to hide his impressed expression but did a horrible job doing so. Rei smiled to himself, and pointed Kai in the direction of the fridge. Kai moved over, and opened it, inside were all of his favorite foods. The first thing he pulled out was the strawberries from the fruit basket. His eyes roamed the interior of the refrigerator until he found the tub of whipped cream. Mere seconds later, he had wedged open the tub of cream, and had started shoving cream covered strawberries into his mouth. Rei couldn't get the grin off his face, and he was sure that he looked like an idiot. He sashayed over to Kai and plucked a strawberry from Kai's grasp, scooping up a fair dollop of cream onto it; Rei plopped it on top of his tongue and clamped his mouth shut. Kai growled protectively, and clutched his strawberries close to his chest, laughing all the while.

Rei briefly showed him the dining room, a smaller rectangle room with crisp beige carpet and a single mahogany table in the middle. Then he led Kai to the living room, where Kai barely glanced at the television before discovering the bookshelves. Many classics lined the shelves, and Kai had already confiscated three for later reading. After that Kai was shown his study, where there were office file cabinets, a computer and a spacious desk. The bluenette was clearly in one of his rare but amusing playful moods. He leaped into the swivel chair (or spinney chair as Kai pronounced it) with his precious strawberries in hand and spun around so much he fell out of the chair. Rei helped him up and showed him his bathroom. This of course required walking him through his bedroom which was currently being painted. Kai grunted his approval at the color choice, and decided to worship his bathroom when he saw it.

The walls were a royal purple, but the light streaming in from the floor to ceiling window made it look a fair shade lighter. The counter tops were a rich granite color, and the sink was porcelain with small red phoenixes flying around the edges. The tap was a deep bronze color, and Kai found it amusing to play with the taps for a few minutes, before his attention caught on the shower and bathtub. He pounced into the shower, and pulled the glass door closed. Then he fogged up the glass and wrote backward messages to Rei. It was clear that Kai had never experienced such luxury before knowing that it was going to be all his. He looked like a little kid on Christmas, playing with everything, spinning in the office chair and eating his strawberries till he had a bright red mustache. It was too cute for words.

Finally, a few hours later after exploring his new home and beginning his driving lessons via Rei, Kai had collapsed onto the couch and immediately fallen asleep. Rei picked up one of the throw blankets off of the window seat and covered Kai up. The guys would probably have the bed ready by tomorrow morning so that Kai could sleep in his room. Rei heaved a sigh as he watched Kai sleep. He sniffled; his baby was all grown up!

Hiromi hauled the box up the final stair and shoved it into her room. She had so much unpacking to do. Currently the beasts were helping. Peony, Pegasus, Zeus, and Wolborg were all pulling their own weight. Also, with Yuriy, Brooklyn, and Raul all helping too a great deal of the unpacking was getting done that wouldn't have if she had been doing it all by herself. Peony smirked at her from atop her canopy bed which he had clearly just finished assembling. He lopped from his perch to join her on the floor. Peony ruffled his rainbow hair and continued to smirk at her.

"What?!" She growled.

"You're sweating."

"So?!"

"Filthy human."

"Oh shut up!" Hiromi ripped open the box and discovered it was even more of her clothing. Peony arched an eyebrow at her. "Don't…say…a…word."

The only thing they had been unpacking of hers all day was clothing, because that was all they could seem to find. Hiromi hadn't labeled any of her boxes, despite warnings from all of the males in her life. A few of the girls at the gang H.Q. were worried for her. Living in a house full of men? Would she be okay? Hiromi pointed out that she would be living in a house full of GAY men, so she would be fine. They were gay men who knew how to pick off potential hazards from a mile away with a rifle. Hiromi nodded to herself, she would be fine.

Yuriy burst into her room and slammed the door shut behind him. He groaned and banged his head against the wall.

"What is it?" Hiromi snapped.

"Raul and Brooklyn are having another one of their sissy fights. I really didn't want to be dragged into it." Peony nodded his sympathy, and started to unpack Hiromi's clothing and put it away in the proper places.

Yuriy unconsciously began to help as well. Hiromi, so exhausted from all the work she had already done that day decided to lie down on her bed. Well, she would have, had it not immediately collapsed beneath her. Neither of the men in the room even noticed. She growled under her breath and observed her friends. They were both silently doing the work that she hadn't asked them to do, well, out loud. They probably figured she was going to ask them to do it anyways.

Despite what most people thought, every single member of her older brother's gang kept their day job. Most had a college degree, and were quite successful; they just had slightly criminal tendencies. Yuriy for example, had masters in literature and was a brilliant novelist; he also cleaned houses professionally on the side. He just happened to be really good at killing business men. Raul was a fashion designer; his clothes were often chosen for top super models such as Max Tate to wear. Max Tate was a very close friend of Raul's, after meeting at a fashion show, they had had dinner and made fast friends. Brooklyn was a history teacher at a private high school. Her brother Bryan actually owned several successful companies in the computer fields, as well as the coffee bean industry. The financial profits they reaped fueled his rather violent extra curricular activities. Mostly the gang was a feeling of family. Everyone knew everyone, people made friends there, and it gave them a free place to live so long as they were loyal to the gang.

Because Hiromi's parents had died when she was very young, Bryan had practically raised her. She was his world, his everything, and she grew up as a mafia princess. Bryan was nearly twelve years older than her; he was nineteen when she was just turning seven. He had fought for custody of her when he had been only the age of sixteen and won. After that, Bryan pulled early morning shifts at the grocery store, and won his scholarship for college, taking afternoon classes so that he could be home at night for Hiromi. It was like that until he had finished his degree in business and worked his way to the top. He had purchased his first two companies when Hiromi was twelve.

Now she was the ripe age of twenty one and ready to face the world. Of course, that meant she would have to get a job, which she wasn't sure how she would do that. But she had seen a 'Now Hiring' sign in the window of the local diner last week. So that was a good start. If she didn't get a job right away, she had three successful men living with her to help pay for the monthly expenses. While she was job hunting they could easily pull her weight for her. Right?

Bryan groaned. It seemed like Hiromi was going to get her way after all. But at least she had his top hit men with her. If there was anyone that he trusted with his baby sister, it would be Raul, Brooklyn, and Yuriy. He paced a trench in his office floor. He had kindly left a pink and perfume scented 'Do Not Disturb' sign on his office door handle. It was a gift that Hiromi had given him not too long ago, to use while he was having another one of his tirades, she had said. He smiled at the thought. Even though it didn't seem like it, he really did love his baby sister. She just didn't see it, because every time he tried to protect her she always took it as him being over bearing and controlling. _If only she knew how wrong she was…_

"Master?" Falborg was sitting on his desk, swinging his legs casually off of the side. His tawny ponytail was coming loose and falling in front of hazel eyes. With his deeply tanned skin, he almost looked like a solid brown blob if it weren't for the off white clothing he always wore. His feet were covered in brown suede tennis shoes with rounded ends.

"Yes Fally?"

"May I inquire as to why you are digging a trench into the floor?" The bit beast stared fearfully at the beaten and stomped on carpet. "I do believe we will have to replace that rug now, Master."

"Probably." Bryan sighed again, "I'm worrying about Hiromi."

"I see."

"She's just so naïve about how the world works. She thinks that she can go out into the world without a job and nothing to support her and magically be okay. Just because she can find a job quick, and then get an apartment, it doesn't make sense. Where would she live while 'finding a job quick'? Well, that point has been overridden recently thanks to my beloved assassin Yuiry. He bought a four bedroom house for them to live in. With Raul, Brooklyn, and Yuriy supporting her while she's job hunting, what will encourage her to keep looking for one if people are still holding her hand like I was here?"

During his rant he had started pacing again, continuing to abuse the carpet with his thick boots. Falborg eyed him wearily. He didn't say anything. Then, he stood up and moved over to his master. He took firm hold of Bryan's shoulders, effectively stopping the pacing man. Bryan awaited the calm and sage like advice that he usually received from his bit beast. But he almost keeled over at his friend's words.

"You have got to stop pacing, or you will drive me insane."

**TBC…**


	5. Chapter 5

The XYZ Affair

**The XYZ Affair**

Chapter 5

Drigger heaved a sigh. Dranzer was sitting in the corner of the living room reading up on modern day voo doo. Kai still hung around her because…? All Drigger could do now was wait for his master to come home. Speak of the devil, here he comes now. Ray climbed through the portrait hole and gazed upon the Gryffindor common room--wait, wrong story.  
Ray shuffled through the front door and slammed it behind him. The bang was loud enough to wake Dranzer up from her morbid reading material. Both bit beasts stared at the mortal, who looked like he was about to collapse in the hallway. "What happened to you?"  
"I was teaching Kai how to drive his new car." Both bit beasts looked hysterical at the thought. Ray nodded, that was exactly how he felt. He made his way to his living room and landed on the couch. It was a miracle he hadn't missed the couch really. After all, the coffee table and the couch looked remarkably similar, or was that just him?  
Drigger followed his master, and arranged a blanket on him. Then, transforming into his tiger form, leapt up on top of him. Rei grunted at the new weight. What on earth possessed his bit beast to tackle him? Drigger stretched out on his master's chest, and began to purr and knead the blanket gently. Happy Drigger.  
"Drigger…can't you go sleep somewhere else?" Rei whined.  
"Nuuuuuuu." He replied.  
Rei sighed, and Drigger stuck his tongue out at him, drenching the surrounding area of the blanket in tiger spit. Rei arched a sleepy eyebrow at him, before deciding to give in to sleep.  
Drigger watched his master sleeping. He looked so peaceful, slightly annoyed, but peaceful. The tiger wondered about his master sometimes. Why on earth was he so dedicated to the town hobo? It just didn't make sense. Kai and Rei hardly got along, they had almost nothing in common…so why did Rei even bother? Did his master have romantic feelings for this Kai person? Maybe. Drigger decided that it was time for him to intervene.

Hiro paced the length of the dining room in frustration. Every now and then he would glance up to glare at his younger brother, Tyson, who was sitting at the table. Why did Tyson choose to use that particular debit card? Was he out of his mind? Wait, he was, never mind. Hiro groaned, and then paused. He came to a halt in front of his kin, and slammed his hands down on the table. This made Tyson's head shoot up so that their eyes met.

"Tyson, for whatever reasons you just spent a hell of a lot of our money on that damn canvas. Yes, I'm ticked, I'm really angry at you for spending that much money. However," Hiro stopped to catch his breath, and locked eyes with Tyson once more, "I want you to go and paint the picture you were so damn set on painting a couple of moments ago. As soon as you finish, we are selling it to the highest bidder. Until that happens, guess what you're living off of?"

Tyson gulped, "What?"

"You're eating ketchup soup, oh, and maybe some of the vegetables in the garden." Hiro breathed out. Tyson's eyes grew wide, and he thought he might cry. With a sudden boost of inspiration born from the sense of self preservation, Tyson bolted from the room and ran into his art room. He stared at the enormous canvas, and was about to pick up his paint brush, when his bit beast Dragoon stopped him.

"I've got a picture of the guy you're in love with." Dragoon smirked, taking on his human form.

"I'm not in love with him; I'm just using his image to get me some food money." That wiped the smirk off of Dragoon's face and replaced it with a scowl, "And don't look at me like that, where's the damn picture."

"Right here, Mr. Pessimist. BTW, your food source's name is Maxwell Tate, or so his bit beast claims. Draciel, he's pretty cool. Since you're being such an ass I think I'll go hang out with him instead." With a poof, Dragoon was gone. Tyson was now all alone, and all he had was the picture that Dragoon slapped into his hand.

He stared down at the smiling blond. Maxwell Tate, huh? Something inside him clicked, and Tyson almost melted. He was painting a picture of one of the world's most famous, most definitely single super models?! Tyson hurried over to his closet and yanked out all of the supplies he needed. Venting out his embarrassment on the canvas which had gotten him ketchup soup for the next week sounded like a really great idea at the moment. Stroke upon stroke found his background. Lines here, toning here, wow, suddenly he had a shop window. Hours upon hours, swish upon swish of a brush, changing colors and he had himself a set of leaves and some wind to twirl them with. Days upon days, brushes upon brushes used from his closet, toning and toning, and he had the faces of his model and said model's bit beast. Weeks upon weeks, and he had a finished painting.

It was by far his best work ever. The toning showed the progress he'd made over the past few years. The faces were realistic and less cartoon-like; in fact, they didn't look like cartoons at all. Tyson was especially proud of the lighting. But what he was most happy about was that tonight he would not be eating ketchup soup and celery. Surprisingly enough, a person could survive on nothing but water, oranges, peanut butter, and a few vegetables each day. Protein in his peanut butter, water in his water (big shocker there), vitamin C in his oranges, and all the other vitamins he needed to live were in the vegetables he scrounged up. He was healthier then he had ever been in his life, skinny, healthy, and horrendously unhappy. He wanted sugar, and he wanted it now!

Tyson couldn't wait for Hiro to finish making the transaction. A particularly obsessed and wealthy fan of Max Tate had shown up and offered 58,837,642 yen for the picture. Needless to say, the painting was going to the obsessed person. Though Tyson hated to see his best work in the hands of a horny fan, it got him the food that he wanted.

"Tyson, she'll be here to pick up the painting tomorrow, but the money has already been wired. So you get your present now." Hiro smirked at Tyson's hopeful face as he led him into the dining room. On the table stood a tall chocolate ice cream cake fresh from the store. Tyson thought that he might go into a fit of spasms had he not been provided with a fork and allowed to eat the cake without the proper etiquette. That cake was gone in less then fifteen minutes…

Yuriy watched as Hiromi stormed into the living room. He knew by the look on her face, and the slump in her posture that she had not had a good day at work. Hiromi had gone through three jobs already. Hopefully she would be able to keep this one. She was now working at the local bookstore. Her uniform was wrinkled and her hair out of place. There was a scowl on her lips, and her eyes were extremely close to shooting lasers.

"So, who grabbed your ass at work today?" Yuriy asked. He was genuinely curious. It was so amusing to listen to Hiromi whine about how guys kept asking her out. He knew that on the inside she loved it that guys were attracted to her, but it made her feel more modest if she whined like she hated the attention. So Yuriy humored her. He saved the document he was working on, and shut the lid of his laptop softly. Only a few moments after he had set his precious onto the end table next to him Hiromi had leapt into his lap. She buried her face in the crook of his neck and growled in frustration.

"Hiro the annoying one I assume?" He felt her nod against his neck and he sighed. This Hiro guy had been annoying her all week long, either Hiromi wasn't trying very hard to get him to stop, or this guy just couldn't take a hint. Knowing Hiromi, it was most likely the former. This was her way of admiring from afar. She whined when she got home, and continued to banter with him, but never give him a direct no-no talk. Hiromi wasn't that much younger than him. He was about twenty six, and her being twenty one made them about five years apart if he was using his fuzzy math correctly. He was well edumacated.

"So, have you asked him out yet?" His answer to that was a sharp bite on his neck, and he jumped. He forgot that Hiromi had a tendency to voice her annoyance through violence.

"Hey, I know you like him. If you didn't, you wouldn't be whining so much. Plus, if he was a real problem then you would have had him fired ages ago. Don't try to fool me either 'Romi. I've known you too long." He pulled her face away from his now sore neck and looked her square in the eyes.

"I know." She sighed.

"Then you'll ask him out tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I guess."

"Good."

"You're sadistic you know that?"

"Yep, why else would I be an assassin my dear?"

**TBC…**


	6. Chapter 6

The XYZ Affair

**The XYZ Affair**

Chapter 6

Kai woke up to light streaming through a vaguely familiar window. Where was he? He closed his eyes again and concentrated. He didn't smell bacon in the kitchen. There were no bit beasts bickering, and most noticeable, Rei hadn't already come to wake him up. He bolted off of what he discovered to be the couch, and his eyes searched the room. He was in his new apartment, Rei was no where to be found, and there was a very amused red head he did NOT know standing in front of him.  
The man in front of him was a drag queen who was not trying very hard to hide the fact that he was a man. His lithe legs were only slightly covered by the pink plaid mini-skirt he was wearing, and loose white leg warmers were stretched up to his knees. His shoes were small, brown and school-girl-ish for lack of a better word. Attached to the skirt were dark black suspenders over his primped and pressed white button up shirt. He was wearing yellow wash gloves coated in suds, and his red hair was up in wavy red tufts on either side of his head. Ice blue met crimson.  
"Who are you and what the hell are you doing in my apartment?!" Kai demanded.  
"I'm your new house cleaner. Your 'financer' Mr. Kon alerted me that the people setting this place up for you probably made a little bit of a mess while you were sleeping. I'll be here three times a week. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday."  
"I still don't know you name."  
"True." The man went back into the kitchen for a minute, and Kai wondered if maybe his brain had sneezed. But a moment later, and he was back with Kai without the wet gloves, and proffering his hand. "Yuriy Ivanov at your service. Who am I 'serving'?"  
"Kai Hiwatari." Kai found it odd that Rei hadn't mentioned his name to this slutty house cleaner. "See something you like?" Yuriy winked at him, and Kai realized that he'd been staring.  
"No, sluts aren't my type." Kai spat, he left the living room, and was thankful to find his bedroom furnished. He flopped down on the bed.  
"How about whores then?" Yuriy called from what Kai assumed was the direction of the kitchen. "Sorry, I don't go for whores either!" Kai returned.  
"Too bad, I'm single and in case you didn't notice you're some good lookin' merchandise." Kai shuddered at that comment. No one had really thought he was pretty before. Why should they think so now? Just because he was wearing clean clothes? That didn't make sense. His face hadn't looked all that horrible before had it? Did people really base their judgment of people on weather they were a certain weight, or had taken a shower that morning?  
Kai slid off of his bed and entered his bathroom. One look in the mirror and Kai was scoffing at his man-servant's words. Why did he even believe him? He was about to strip down to his birthday suit and take a shower, when he glanced back at the mirror. Kai watched his face, his high cheekbones were much better suited a healthy face, he decided. After he had returned to the weight of a human being not at death's door, he had gotten a lot more attention when he had gone out on the town. Several people had grabbed his ass, he noticed. What was peoples' obsession with touching him in the rectory?  
Okay, he wasn't ugly. But Kai wasn't sure he was worthy of compliments. He quickly undressed himself and slipped into his shower. Kai stood in the shower, not really sure why he was taking a shower in the first place. He held up a hand under the warm spray. His skin turned a soft pink at the warmth. Well, he thought, if I'm in the shower, might as well wash up. He picked up the shampoo bottle and lathered his locks with the soap. He moved his head under the water and massaged his scalp.

Suddenly there was a crash in the kitchen. Kai shot out of the shower, and quickly wrapped a towel around him. He rushed into the kitchen dripping wet. "What the frick was that?!"

Yuriy looked up from his place at the sink. There was a pan at his feet. It had probably just slipped from his hands while he was washing it. It was then that Kai realized he was holding a hand towel around himself. Kai had thought he had grabbed a normal sized body towel. Now, Yuriy's eyes were fixed on a more than noticeable bulge. Kai flushed a dark red and ran out of the room.

Kai ended up back his bathroom. He slammed the door shut behind him. That had to be the singularly most mortifying experience of his life. He dropped the towel. Kai found himself back in the shower with the water on again. He turned up the temperature, and hoped the scalding water would help erase his embarrassment. Unlike most people, Kai had discovered that he had a much higher tolerance for higher temperatures. In fact, if he didn't have the knob in the shower almost all the way to hot, the water felt chilly to him. Thusly, whenever anyone came over, Rei in particular, would whine about how hot it was in the apartment. That was how Kai liked it. He would occasionally turn it down for whoever it was that was whining, mostly it was Rei. But when he did, he bundled up in some sweaters, and sweatshirts, and a few pairs of sweat pants. Rei would always look at him like he was crazy.

But Rei had his weird ways too. Kai had known his friend to wander off into the forests nearby at night and sleep out in the wilderness. But one of his weirdest fetishes was his garden kept on his balcony. Those plants were healthier then any Kai had ever seen. Almost all of them were vegetables, which Rei harvested and then used for himself. Kai chuckled.

He stepped out of the shower and dried himself off. He dropped his used towels in the hamper next to the counter. Then, he sheepishly made his way into his room and changed. Pulling on some loose jeans, a maroon tank top, and a baby blue hoodie Kai gathered his courage to reappear in the kitchen. Okay, it wasn't that big of a deal. Really…it wasn't that big of a deal. Kai took deep breaths and padded down the hallways towards the kitchen. Besides, he had a question in mind for his would-be maid.

"Are you just cleaning or do you do laundry too?" Kai asked as he rounded the corner.

Yuriy looked up from where he was mopping the kitchen floor. Damn he filled out that mini-skirt well. Kai shook his head. "Yeah, why? Got some already? Rei said you only moved in here yesterday."

"No, just my towels. I don't really…know how to do laundry." Kai muttered, "Is this side of the kitchen already dry?"

"Um, yeah you can walk on it; I still have this side to do though." Yuriy continued his work. It was as if the event earlier wasn't an event but a minor mishap that wasn't worth mentioning. Kai silently thanked Yuriy for that, and headed for the fridge. He pulled out the strawberry juice that Rei had gotten him. As he set the carton down on the counter he realized that he had a problem. He had no idea how Rei had organized his kitchen. According to his friend there were dishes in this kitchen, but he had never told Kai exactly where everything was. Oh well, looked like he was up for some trial and error. He opened one cupboard, behold, chips and such. Another cupboard, paper plates and extra paper towels were his prize. He wanted a glass damn it! After discovering where his plates, bowls, mixing bowls, electric beater, silverware, and of course his numerous pans were, Kai was fuming.

"Where in the hell are my…" Kai was cut off by a glass appearing in front of him. A pale hand was extended over his shoulder, holding an empty glass. Kai took it and mumbled, "Thanks."

He picked up the carton and poured himself some juice. He guzzled what was in the cup he so desperately sought, and turned. Yuriy was standing there with his mop over both shoulders and behind his neck, his arms loosely hanging over it. He smiled. "May the maid have some juice as well?"

"Yeah, if you can tell me where you found this glass." Kai bartered. Yuriy walked across his now dry and gleaming floor to the cupboard over the toasters. Opening it in a Vanna White manner, Yuriy whipped out a glass and returned to Kai's side of the kitchen. "Fill 'er up, bartender."

Kai poured an ample amount of strawberry juice into Yuriy's cup and watched him down it in one gulp. Yuriy made a show of throwing his head back and clicking his tongue before setting down his glass on the counter. Kai smiled at that.

"Alright, done with the kitchen, on to tidy up the rest of the place." Just as Yuriy was about to leave the kitchen and Kai thought he was embarrassment free, Yuriy paused at the doorway, "Oh, and by the way, why did you put on so much clothing? I much preferred you in that little hand towel of yours."

With that Yuriy left the room, and Kai's face was redder then a sun burnt tomato.

Max woke up to find Draciel once again sitting in front of the TV. He had the volume turned down so that it wouldn't disturb Max from his sleep. The blond rolled off of the couch and crawled over to his bit beast. He laid his head in Draciel's lap and curled up like a little kid. "I'm tired."

"Obviously. I don't think I've ever seen you this sleepy before."

"Where did you go before?"

"Oh, another bit beast showed up. His name is Dragoon, in fact he came over again earlier to hang out, while you were still asleep. It's about seven now. His master's name is Tyson Kinomiya. According to Dragoon, his master wanted to paint a picture of you and needed a photo for reference. I made a copy and gave it to him. Dragoon thinks that his master fancies you."

"Really? Where does this guy live?" Max lost his sleepy attitude and was sitting up staring at his friend.

Draciel rolled his eyes, "I don't know. Why don't you go ask, around? This isn't a very big town you know."

"Good idea. I'll be back later." Max bounded out the door, bushy-eyed and tail wagging. Draciel snickered and shoved another chocolate bar into his mouth.

Max slid his hand into some warm wool gloves, and wrapped his favorite scarf around his neck. A light grey bucket hat and orange suede winter boots finished the list. He grabbed his keys and decided to walk. Draciel was right; this town wasn't very big after all.

He made his way down the stairs to the lobby of the inn. "Where are you off to Master Tate?"

He turned to find the homely inn owner smiling at him. Max walked over to her, maybe she could tell him where This Tyson lived. "Um, I'm trying to find a man named Tyson Kinomiya. Do you know where he lives?"

"Oh, Kinomiya-kun is it? He's a good kid, about to finish his degree in the arts you know. Brilliant painter he is. I do believe he lives down in C district. You know the dojo southern end of town? You can't miss it, its right next to the outdoor market."

"Thank you Miss." He hurried out the door. It was amazing how easy it was for him to find his way around town now. After spending a month there, he had started to feel at home. Maybe he should settle down here? I mean, his modeling career would be over in a couple years anyways, why not stop now? He could live off of his savings. Last time he checked he had seen an opening for a position at the local library. Max wasn't very fond of reading, but a job was a job.

The air outside was cool but not cold. He probably didn't need the scarf, hat, or gloves, but it kept what little chill there was away from him. Autumn leaves twirled around him, and he took the time to enjoy the sunset on his way to C district. It was about an hour's walk to the dojo.

When he reached his destination, Max stopped to catch his breath. He had jogged a good deal of the way. After he had regained his composure, Max confidently strode up the walk to the front door. He rang the doorbell and waited. There were footsteps, and yelling, but finally someone answered.

A tall lean man with long blue hair stood in the doorway. His eyes were almond shaped and a rich brown. His hair was tied back with a leather thong, and he seemed frustrated about something. "Excuse me, I'm sorry to be rude but we can't take any visitors right now. We're kind of busy."

"Oh, that's alright. I was just wondering if this was where Kinomiya Tyson lived." Max apologized. He thought this man was being rude, even though he apologized in advance for any curtness.

"Yes, this is where he lives. However, he's busy right now, as I already mentioned. If you give me your name and phone number, I can have him call you later."

"Sure, you know you sound like an answering machine recording right?" Max rolled his eyes, but the man in the doorway didn't look very amused at his sarcasm. "My name is Max Tate, and you can reach me at the local hotel."

Max listed his phone number for him.

"Alright, I'll tell him. Good night."

"Good…" The door slammed shut, "…night."

Max glared. _Jack ass_, he thought. Max whirled around and stormed down the pathway towards the gate. He stomped down the street back towards the inn. Suddenly the evening was more sinister and a lot less enjoyable. As he was tearing a trench into the sidewalk, he almost ran someone over.

Max sighed, and stopped, "Sorry, I didn't see you there."

He offered a hand to help the person up. The person took it, and as soon as Max had lifted him up, he was tackled. "Maxie! Oh my gosh it's you! Since when did you get here?"

Max instantly recognized the voice and spoke in rapid French, ((Raul! I'm so sorry, I had no idea that you lived here. If I had I would have met up with you as soon as I got here. I promise.))

((It's okay, I just wish that I had known you were here sooner. Wow, it's been a couple of years. What's been going on with you?))

The two of them made it down the street. Onlookers weren't surprised in the least by the scene that just took place. Raul slamming into them, then tackling them, and then talking in French was not an unusual occurrence.

((Well, I just got brushed off by someone living with a guy who supposedly fancies me. I've been trying to get laid for weeks now. WEEKS.))

Raul laughed at him, ((Well I'm sorry, but maybe they were-))

((Don't you dare say busy, that's what the guy said. Damn, he sounded just like an answering machine. I'm sorry, but he's busy right now, if you give me your name and a phone number to reach you at I'll have him call you back later.)) Max rolled his eyes.

((Wow, that's impressive.))

((Yep. Maybe he was a brother or something? I don't know, he'll probably call me back later. But enough about me, what's been happening in your life recently?))

((Oh, well right now I'm supposed to be on a mission, but I can afford to take a quick break to hang out with my best friend who I haven't seen in several years.))

((Wait, you're on work right now? Raul, if you're busy, by all means, please continue killing people and delivering drugs. We can catch up later.)) Max smirked, and Raul playfully punched his shoulder.

((Alright, are you sure? Because honestly, I don't _need_ to kill people tonight.))

((I'm sure, unless of course you'd like to come home with me and warm my bed for the night. If that's the case then please stop working and be with me.))

((Hmm, I don't know. Don't you think it would ruin our relationship?))

((Nah, we're too crazy and horny to not be friends afterwards.))

((Well, if you put it that way…))

Hiromi stomped through the store. She was on a mission. She was going to ask Hiro out today, no matter what. There he was, monitoring his section of the store. She straightened her blouse, and her skirt. Hiro looked great today. His light blue hair tied back, his dark brown eyes sparkling as usual. Toned arms were lifting books and lining the shelves with them. Hiromi sighed. She approached her prey with as much resolve as she could. He glanced up and caught her eye.

"What's up Hiromi?" He asked. She resisted the urge to tell him the ceiling was and summoned her courage. "Umm, I was wondering if you were doing anything this later tonight."

"You mean, like on a date?" He raised both eyebrows at her.

"Yeah, that's what I mean. So, do you want to go out with me?" She kicked at the floor, and fiddled with the hem of her blouse.

"Um, Hiromi. Don't take this the wrong way, I really like you, but I can't go out with you." Hiro told her.

"What? Why not?" She growled.

"Your Bryan Kuznetsov's little sister, right?"

"Yeah, and what has that got to do with anything?!" Hiromi was screeching now, and she was sure that she was attracting the attention of the customers.

"That Yuriy guy works for him, doesn't he?"

"Yes, and again, I ask you, what the hell does that have to do with you going out with me?!"

"Your brother's 'employee' broke my little brother's heart a couple months back. I'm sorry; I don't think I could treat you like a boyfriend should if I were to go out with you. Knowing about your connection with Ivanov would get to me. I can't go out with you Hiromi."

"What? That doesn't make any sense!"

"Hiromi, I've explained to you my answer, now please don't make a scene." Hiro continued with his work, or at least, he tried to. Hiromi wasn't satisfied with his answer.

"Why does my being Yuriy's friend bug you? Yeah, his relationship with your brother didn't work out. But that doesn't mean that you have to refuse a date invitation from one of his friends!" Hiromi was practically foaming at the mouth. Hiro gave her a stern stare.

"I'm not going out with you Hiromi, if I don't want to, then I don't have to. You don't have a younger sibling, so you don't know what it's like to watch them get hurt. You don't forget that kind of thing easily. I'm sorry if you don't understand, but my answer is final. I won't go out with you." With that, Hiro picked up his box of books and carried it in to the backroom, leaving Hiromi with an audience of curious spectators.

"Hey, does this look like a show or something?" There was a pause where a few people looked like they were about to answer her, but Hiromi's glare of pure hatred scared off any stragglers.

With that, she tromped across the store to the information desk to handle her work. Just great, Yuriy had managed to screw her up once again. She was definitely going to have a talk with him when she got home.


	7. Chapter 7

The XYZ Affair

**The XYZ Affair**

Chapter 7

Bryan was still doing paper work when Yuriy burst into his office in his infamous house cleaning uniform. He smirked at his hit man in pink, and waited for the announcement. "I found a hot guy!"

"Oh really?" Bryan decided to humor Yuriy, it worked out better that way. Or at least, in Bryan's opinion, he wasn't fond of bruises.

"Yeah. Rei Kon hired me to clean the apartment of Kai Hiwatari! Can you believe it? The town bum has really cleaned up. In fact, he's got quite the package."

"How did you find that out?"

"Oh, just an incident involving him running out of the shower in nothing but a hand towel, but anyways, I plan to ask him out in a couple of days. I got to check out the lay of the land before I get into anything, if you know what I mean." Yuriy winked at him.

"Wait, did you mention Rei Kon?"

"Yeah, why?" Yuriy came to sit on the edge of Bryan's desk.

"Because I have a new mission for you concerning him, that's why." Bryan watched his friend's eye brows shoot up his forehead to hide behind his hair.

"Oh really?"

"Really."

"Great, I'm not killing my new client am I?" Yuriy sighed.

"No, actually, more of a kidnap mission."  
"You want me, to kidnap Rei Kon because….?"

"Because he's going to be my new boyfriend."

"Bry-bry, hate to break it to you, but relationships don't work that way. You can't just kidnap someone and inform them that they're going to go out with you. You have to ASK them to go out with you and then if they say yes, then you date them. Scary thought, but people are PEOPLE." Yuriy rolled his eyes at his boss, only to find that Bryan was dead serious.

"Yuriy, you like working for me, right?"

"Yes."

"You fancy keeping your job, right?"

"Yes."

"You're going to bring me Rei." Bryan's tone left no room for argument. He pushed Yuriy off of his desk, and continued with his paperwork. Even if Yuriy had chosen that moment to say anything, there wasn't a chance of Bryan listening to him anyways. The drama queen left his office, and Bryan paused to stare at the slammed door. Yuriy was going to follow orders, there was no doubt about it, but he wasn't going to enjoy it. That much was clear.

Bryan was not what people would call a player. He couldn't be one if he tried, as inept in the dating field as he was. For Yuriy, picking up men, or women was a simple task. Wink and show a little leg and you got what you wanted. But Bryan couldn't do that, the closest he could come to dating was kidnapping the person and then getting to know them.

Rei was possibly the only person he was romantically interested in. He couldn't seem to find anyone else that struck his fancy. Especially the other day, when he had met him at a café, they had seemed to get on pretty well…

_Bryan entered the local café, intent on getting his latte. He had gotten absolutely no sleep last night because he had been up all night dealing with paper work, and handing out missions. Out of the corner of his eye he made sure that Sergei was still posted at the door. Because of his status in the criminal world, extra protection in public places was absolutely necessary. As he was waiting for his latte at the pick up counter, the door behind him opened. Turning briefly to see who had come in, he saw Rei Kon stride in. His hair loose from its usual bind, it washed over on shoulder, and his golden eyes were filled with warmth. _

_Bryan watched him, transfixed from where he stood. Rei came up to the cashier and told him his order. He picked out a few stray bills from his pocket and handed them to the employee. Then, after taking his receipt he moved to stand next to Bryan. It seemed that Rei had finally noticed Bryan's staring, for he turned to return the look._

_"Hello, Bryan Kuznetsov right?" Rei held out his hand to greet him. Bryan took the hand and raised it to his mouth to place a gentle kiss. Rei smiled, and blushed._

_"Yes, and you're the beautiful Rei Kon everyone talks about." Bryan couldn't help it, the words slipped from his mouth before he could stop them. Rei's smile grew even wider._

_"My, you're certainly more of a gentleman then people make you out to be, Mr. Kuznetsov." Rei murmured. Bryan's order came up and he barely took notice. He picked up the latte, and motioned to the table in the far back. Rei nodded and followed Bryan to the table. They took a seat, and Bryan took a sip of his warm drink. Rei was still grinning from ear to ear and Bryan couldn't help but return the sentiment._

_"Well, few people know me better then the rumors, Rei. Do you mind if you call you Rei?" Rei shook his head, and was about to stand when his order was announced. But Bryan dismissed the notion with the flick of his wrist. He stood and went to fetch the drink for Rei. He moved back to the table and handed the beautiful man his latte. _

_"Thank you. You're so kind." Rei too sipped at his order. _

_"You're welcome." Bryan wished he could stay there, but his cell phone ringing in his pocket reminded him that his day was more than a little packed. He roughly pulled the cell from his pocket and flipped it open. "Kuznetsov." _

_"Boss, word in that a new ragtag group has entered our territory. Brooklyn wants to know if we should dispose of them now or wait for your orders." _

_"Do they appear to be doing anything more than passing through?"_

_"Not yet sir."_

_"Then wait until I return. I'm finishing up here at the café, I'll be back soon." _

_With that, Bryan hung up and turned back to his companion. "I'm sorry, but business calls."_

_"Not at all, I understand completely. Perhaps we could meet another time?"_

_"Of course. It was nice meeting you Rei." _

_"You too, Bryan." Rei waved to him from the café as Bryan headed down the street, Sergei in tow._

They had gotten on so well, Bryan was starting to have second thoughts about kidnapping the man. What would Rei think of him? Oh well, he had already sent Yuriy out to handle the job. He'd be seeing Rei again soon.

Tyson fiddled with the number in his hands. He should have called Max back weeks ago, but he hadn't had it in him. After spending the past few hours mulling over the possibility of going out with the more than slightly attractive blond, Tyson had picked up the phone. Now the line was ringing, and he was waiting for someone to pick up. A few minutes had passed when Tyson heard someone pick up on the other line. His heart beat sped up, and his breath hitched in his throat. "Hello?"

It was just the voice of the inn keeper. Tyson sighed, "Hello, this is Tyson Kinomiya, I'm looking for Max Tate."

Again, he fiddled with the paper in his hands. "Oh, he just came back a few minutes ago. I'll connect you, just hold on a moment."

"Thank you." Tyson waited, and then the phone began to ring again. It didn't ring for long however, "Hello?"

"Hey, this is Tyson, I'm looking for Max."

"Yeah, this is him. You're the local artist, or so I've heard. I think our bit beasts have started dating."

"I don't doubt it. I've been wondering where Dragoon has been running off to lately."

"Over here is where he's been running to. I don't think I've seen two people consume as much sugar as they have."

Tyson chuckled at that but remembered why he was calling, "But anyways, I was kinda wondering if you'd like to get together sometime?"

"Sure, you busy today?"

"Nope." If Tyson though his heart was beating fast before, then his heart but have been beating 500 times a minute.

"Then how bout you meet me at the outdoor market near your house."

"Okay. See you in a few."

"Later."

Tyson stared at the phone as though it were the most fascinating thing in the world. He was going out with a supermodel, who h had never actually met before in his entire life. Wait, he just said he'd meet him in a few minutes! Tyson dropped the phone back onto its hook and ran for his bedroom. What on earth was he going to wear? He dug through his closet like a maniac. What about those jeans he got last week? Too modest? They were pretty baggy. Nah, he couldn't wear those. He picked up one of his favorite pair of work jeans. They were pretty tight in the seat, and had sagging holes in the knees, but were really comfortable. He decided on those. He yanked down his pajama pants and tugged on his jeans. Great, now all he needed was a shirt. He pulled out a vintage t-shirt that hung a little bit above the waist of his jeans. It was a v-neck and tight on the shoulders.

Not having a clue what to do with his hair, he quickly grabbed his keys and cell phone before jogging out of the house to the market. Max was already there. In his designer name clothing, he stuck out like a sore thumb. Tyson rushed over, and joined him next to the vegetable stand. "Hey."

Max turned to look at him, and felt time stop. As cliché as it may sound Max couldn't see anything else around him except Tyson. He hadn't expected Tyson to be this good looking. That sounded rude, but he hadn't thought that he would be this lucky. Tyson blushed at Max's reaction to his presence.

"Um, so are we grocery shopping or are we going to do something else?" Tyson asked him. Max shook his head to re enter the world of the living. He smiled at his date, "Only if you want to. What do you want to do? I didn't really have anything in mind on my way over here."

"Um, well, there was this new restaurant that I've wanted to go to…"

Brooklyn shook his head. He couldn't believe he was doing this. He raised his hand to knock on Raul's door. He hesitated briefly before announcing his arrival to the person within. There was a scuffle and suddenly the door opened. Raul appeared and leaned against the doorframe when he saw who it was. His expression aloof, he was clearly waiting for Brooklyn to start talking.

"Raul," Brooklyn paused, "I was wrong saying all of those things to you the other night. I came here to apologize for what I said."

"Keep going." Raul made no sign of slamming the door in his face so Brooklyn decided to carry on, "I'm sorry. I just felt like you were invading my space after I was already doing something for you that I didn't want to do."

"You didn't have to come if you didn't want to that bad."

Brooklyn held his breath and counted to ten. It was taking all of his will power not to turn around and walk down the hallway. He did have to come?! What kinda bullshit was that? Raul forced him to come whether he wanted to or not.

"I just wanted to make you happy. You wanted me to come to your party."

Raul's expression softened. Brooklyn waited for it. There was always calm before the storm…

"Brookie! That was sooooo sweet!" Yep, he was right. Raul tackled him to the floor and snuggled against Brookie's shoulder. Why did he do this again? The sight of Yuriy laughing his ass off down the corridor made him scowl. Oh yeah, that's why….

**TBC…**


	8. Chapter 8

The XYZ Affair

**The XYZ Affair**

Chapter 8

Rei was sitting at the kitchen table with Kai. Rei had invited his friend over for dinner, because they hadn't seen each other in a while now that Kai had moved out. They were both talking about this and that, both laughing at each other's misfortune at times. The mood was light, and both were enjoying the meal.

Neither of them heard the slight creak of the window being pushed open in the living room. Kai didn't notice the soft footsteps echoing in the corridor. Both of them however, noticed when the power suddenly went out and they were plunged into darkness. The blackness around them pressed on Rei's eyes like a weightless veil. He couldn't see anything. He didn't start to panic until after the emergency power didn't immediately turn on. A hand clamping over his mouth made him jump. What was going on? To Rei's horror, the hand over his mouth was clutching a wet cloth. The fumes emanating from it entered his nostrils and made him lightheaded. The dark wavered and started to flicker away as the emergency power finally came on. He could see Kai, but he couldn't his face too clearly. He felt someone behind him pick him up bridal style. Rei blindly grabbed for whoever was holding him, he curled up in their arms. He suddenly didn't know where he was. Then, everything went black.

When Rei opened his eyes, his head hurt and he had no idea where he was. He did know that he was lying on an unbelievably soft mattress. Sitting up, he rubbed his arms and took in his surroundings. He was in the most luxurious room he had ever been in. Even as a child in his father's summer home the rooms weren't this lavishly decorated. Rei had to crawl a bit to get to the edge of the bed he was lying on, and when he did he had to use the steps next to it. The bed was on a raised wooden pedestal, and the bedspread was a pale yellow. The walls a rose pink and the carpets were welcoming under his feet. There were a few couches and chairs on one side of the room next to several bookcases lined with many colorful books. A window on the other side of the room climbed from the floor all the way to the high vaulted ceiling. Thick drapes lined them, and Rei instantly rushed over, hoping to gain a clue as to where he was.

The view from his window showed him the northern end of town. He was very high up he noticed, as everyone walking the streets below looked like ants. Was that a cloud that just drifted past? He shook his head in disbelief. Wait. The only building this big in north district was Bryan Kuznetsov's business building. Supposedly he had a penthouse on the top floor.

Footsteps echoed outside the bedroom door, and Rei leapt back from the window. Unconsciously he started to fiddle with his loose hair. There were voices outside the room, so that meant there was probably more than one person about to come in. Wait, he recognized one of those voices. It sounded a lot like Bryan's. What was going on? Rei took another step back as the door opened. In walked Bryan and some man in business suit with a wire running from his ear down into the collar of his shirt. Rei was slightly relieved at the sight of someone he knew; maybe Bryan could explain what was going on.

"Bryan!" Rei rushed forward. "Where are we? What's going on? Why am I here?"

"This is your new room that we're standing in. I do hope you like it."

"My room? This is _my_ room?" Rei looked around again. He certainly liked the room, but he was still troubled as to why he was here.

"But _where_ are we? I'm not asking about this room. Is this your building?"

"Yes." Bryan strode over to the couches on the opposite side of the room and took a seat. Rei followed him and took a seat on the couch across from him.

"But why am I here? I don't remember coming here on my own." A frustrated tone was quickly consuming his voice.

"Because you're going to be my lover." Bryan leaned forward to whisper this in Rei's ear. Rei was really scared now. He wasn't sure where the kind man from the other day had gone. The man whom Rei had considered going out with. How could you just bring someone somewhere and inform them that they were to be your lover? Something that intimate shouldn't be forced.

"Where did you get that idea?!" Rei screeched. He shot to his feet and backed away from Bryan. "You can't just bring people places and tell them that they're going to be your lover! It doesn't work that way Bryan."

"Why not?" He looked genuinely confused. Rei felt greatly disturbed at this man's lack of understanding. Seeing another door, Rei ran for it. He opened the door and slammed it behind him. He reached around and flipped what he thought was a light switch. The room he illuminated was what must be his new bathroom. Rei looked for a lock on the door, and finding one, he soon made use of it. He sat down on the edge of the bathtub against the wall. He gripped the edge, and let go of it. Hold…and release…deep breaths…oh god, he was knocking on the door now.

"Rei, please come out. I don't want to fight like this." It was obvious that Bryan didn't mean him any harm, he just was bringing him somewhere against his will. Rei stood up and moved for the door.

"I'll come out of the bathroom if you promise me I can go back to my apartment." There was no movement on the other side of the door, and Rei didn't hear anything except for Bryan's sigh.

"If you want to be that way, go ahead. You are allowed to use any of the facilities here. The living room is down the hall. Breakfast will be ready at seven. If you have any questions just press the call button next to your bed and your butler will do his best to help you. I'll be in my study finishing up the paperwork for the night." After that, Rei could hear Bryan moving away from the bathroom door. Rei shivered; did Bryan just tell him he couldn't leave? Oh my god, Rei thought. He crossed his arms and started to pace around his bathroom. His butler would answer his questions? How bout the question asking why in the fuck couldn't he go home?! Rei growled. He sat back down on the edge of tub and glared at the door.

There was a soft knock on the bathroom door, and Rei waited for whoever it was to announce them. "Master Rei, are you in there?"

"Who is it?" He hissed.

"It's Kenny, sir. I've been assigned to your needs. I was wondering if there was anything I could do for you."

Rei sighed; he was feeling kind of hungry. He also was kind of hoping to find out what time it was. He wasn't wearing his watch anymore. Rei stood up and shuffled over to the door. Unlocking it, Rei pushed the door open slowly. He was met with concerned grey eyes. Wispy orange hair fell over big round glasses, and his small mouth lit up in a smile at the sight of Rei okay. Rei felt slightly guilty at making this little boy worry. He stepped further into the room.

"What time is it?"

"6:30." Kenny informed him.

"In the morning? How long have I been here?!"

"Since about seven last night sir…" Kenny shuffled his feet at Rei's outburst.

"So only half an hour until breakfast right?"

"Yes."

Rei sighed, he ran a shaking hand through his hair. "Do I have to eat breakfast with him?"

"No, sir. He told me that if you didn't want to eat in the dining room with everyone, then you were free to eat your breakfast in your room." Kenny offered another kind smile.

"Everyone? Who else would I be eating with?"

"The whole family is here tonight, though Master Kuznetsov's little sister just recently moved out with her friends, she has returned to spend the day with her brother. You'd be dining with Miss Hiromi, Master Yuriy, Master Raul, and Master Brooklyn along with Master Kuznetsov."

Rei's eyes opened wide. Did Kenny just mention Yuriy? Rei's house cleaner was here? He shook his head. That didn't matter; he was going to eat in his room. But, Kenny called them Bryan's family, didn't he? That meant that Yuriy must be awfully close to Bryan. Did the red head know about Bryan's plan to bring Rei here? Rei shook his head.

"Um, sir, are you wishing to eat in your room or with Master? I need to inform the cooks and Master Kuznetsov of your decision."

"I'm eating in here." Rei stalked over to the bookshelves and decided that since he was going to be here a while, he might as well find a way to entertain himself.

"What would you like for breakfast sir?"

Rei turned abruptly. He had a choice? "What can I have?"

"Just about anything you want sir. Only Master Kuznetsov has more power in the building then you. He said that all of us are supposed to do anything you say, except anything that involves you leaving the building." Kenny had followed Rei over to the bookcases.

"Um," Rei bit his lip, what did he want to eat? Pancakes sounded pretty good right now. Rei listed his order to Kenny, who nodded and then left.

Rei was in a state of shock. He wasn't a prisoner, not really. He could do anything he wanted, go wherever her wanted, he just couldn't leave the building. Bryan wasn't restricting him from anything. The only thing that Rei could possibly relate his current situation to was being under house arrest in a really big house. He sighed for what felt like the millionth time since he had woken up. Rei moved closer to the bookshelf and scanned the title. Bryan certainly had provided him with an amazing collection of books. He plucked a particularly thick volume off the shelf and laid down on one of the couches. His eyes scanned the page, but he wasn't reading. He was too caught up in the fact that he was now Bryan's.

Kai couldn't believe his eyes when the lights came back on. The person holding Rei in their arms was none other than Yuriy Ivanov. The man that Kai had started to have feelings before was standing in front of him, ready to kidnap his best friend. "What are you doing Yuriy?! Put him down!"

"I'm sorry Kai, but I'm just following orders. I'm not enjoying this any more than you are." Yuriy was telling the truth, Kai could see it in his eyes.

"Then don't follow orders! Just leave Rei here. He's my best friend Yuriy."

"Kai, don't you think if that were an option that I would be here right now?!" Kai's eyes fell to the floor; suddenly the tile pattern was very interesting.

"Choosing to not follow orders is always an option, Yuriy. If it's something that you believe is wrong, then shouldn't go against orders?"

"Kai, it isn't that simple. You're smart, you should know that." Yuriy adjusted Rei in his arms and started heading for the doorway. But Kai's words stopped him, "Yuriy, it doesn't have to be simple, hell, it could be as complex as…women! But that doesn't mean that…"

Yuriy chuckled lightly at Kai's comparison but continued moving, "Kai, I'm sorry. But you can't stop me."

Kai hurtled across the room to block Yuriy's pathway. He reached out and grabbed Rei from the red head's arms. Yuriy, in shock at the sudden movement didn't tighten his hold on Rei in time to stop Kai from taking him. The bluenette hurried down the hall towards Rei's bedroom. Kicking the door open, Kai gently set Rei down on the bed. He heard Yuriy running after him, so Kai shut the door and locked it. What could he put in front of the door? Kai's eyes frantically scoured the room. The only thing he saw that he could possibly use was Rei's armoire, but that was too heavy for him to move.

"Kai, please, just open the door. Don't make me kick it down." Kai knew that Yuriy was more than capable of breaking the door down. But he wasn't ready to give in just yet. "No, Yuriy, I won't let you in here."

There was a sigh, and Kai could hear Yuriy moving away from the door. The triumph that built up in his chest was soon deflated when Kai heard Yuriy place a well aimed kick on the door. Kai through himself on top of Rei to shield him as the door fell down and landed on top of them. Because he was using his whole body to protect Rei, Kai's head wasn't covered from the blow. As soon as the door fell, it hit him on the head, and everything went black.

Yuriy stared at the fallen door. It was at a precarious angle having fallen on the edge of the bed. With one foot Yuriy knocked the door to the side. What he saw was Kai sprawled on the bed on top of Rei. The bluenette was knocked out from the force he had been hit with. Yuriy was speechless. Just the expression still on Kai's face in his unconsciousness was heart wrenching. Kai's eyes were screwed shut in anticipation for the coming blow, his brows furrowed, and his mouth set in a grim line of determination. All of his face spoke fear, rage, and the need to protect, while his hands were gently clutching at Rei's hair. Yuriy wished he could just leave them like that, but he couldn't.

He stepped forward and moved Kai off of Rei. This was difficult as Kai was refusing to let go of Rei's hair. It took some time to disentangle Kai's digits from Rei's feathery locks. After that was done, Yuriy once again took Rei in his arms. He turned away from the sight of Kai whimpering on the bed. He clenched his teeth, firmed his resolve and left the room.

Yuriy trudged down the hallway and into the living room. He climbed carefully through the window and scaled back down the side of the building. This was a slightly more difficult task then it was originally, because now he was carrying very precious cargo. So he took his time going down. It took him a few hours, but when he reached the bottom he more than made up for lost time.

Yuriy sprinted towards the covered area where he had parked his car. He reached into his pocket and withdrew his keys, unlocking the passenger car as he approached. Opening the passenger door, he carefully set Rei inside and buckled him in. Then, he closed the door and rounded to his side. After he was in, his seat belt was buckled, and he had checked on Rei again, he started the car and sped down the street towards head quarters.

Something wasn't right. Yuriy knew it was more than the fact that he was kidnapping a completely innocent bystander for his boss's romantic purposes. He turned off the radio and listened carefully. There, it was a soft beeping. Yuriy slammed on the brakes, and turned off the car. The beeping grew louder. In terrified realization, Yuriy tore out of his seat belt, and shoved open Rei's car door. He unbuckled Rei and tackled him out of the car. The well trained assassin picked up his delivery and ran as far away from the car as possible.

He just kept running towards head quarters. Yuriy didn't even look back as he heard the deafening explosion. Bryan had been right. The new gang in town was not here for a vacation. That was Bryan's car that Yuriy had driven for this mission. While he was running, Yuriy checked Rei for any bruises, there weren't any that he could see, but he was sure that he could have some later.

It took another hour for him to reach his destination, sprinting without a break. As thin as he was, Rei was starting to feel heavier and heavier in Yuriy's arms. By the time he go into the elevator, he felt like he was about to collapse. When the mechanic doors slid open at the top floor, Yuriy was greeted by his boss. Yuriy placed Rei in Bryan's arms, and almost fell out of the elevator.

"Yuriy, did you experience any difficulties?" Bryan asked.

"Only the minor one where your car blew up, whoever planted the bomb must have done so while I was in the apartment fetching Rei. But other than that, nothing worth mentioning."

Bryan nodded and then whispered, "You may stay here for the night, and return to the house tomorrow."

Yuriy panted, "_Thanks Boss_."

With that, Yuriy slumped down the hallways to his old quarters.

**TBC…**


	9. Chapter 9

The XYZ Affair

**The XYZ Affair**

Chapter 9

Hiro shuffled into the dojo after work that night. He was exhausted, both emotionally and physically. He hated having to turn Hiromi down, but he just wasn't ready for that right now. As he made his way to the kitchen, he heard noises coming from his little brother's room that he really didn't want to be hearing. Moans of pleasure were echoing from down the hall. His eyes grew wide as dinner plates as he edged towards the door to his brother's room.

Bracing himself, Hiro threw the door open. The scene before him scared him because one, this was his baby brother, and two; he never knew two men could adopt that position without breaking bones. Tyson looked up, and seeing his older brother, took on a mortified expression. The mood died instantly, and the blonde man fondling Hiro's brother looked up from his ministrations with a smirk on his face.

"Would you like to join us, or just watch?"

Hiro happily _watched_ the man who had previously been molesting his brother run down the pathway with all of his clothes on backwards. He shut the front door, and confidently marched down the hallway towards the kitchen where Tyson was ashamedly sitting at the table. "So, who's your new friend?"

"Remember that guy I painted a picture of a little while ago?"

"You mean the reason for our three week long poverty?!" Hiro shouted.

"Yeah, that would be the one."

"Tyson!"

"Hiro, don't get angry at me. I'm a grown up, I'm allowed to have sex with whoever I want!"

"Not while you're still living with me, you're not!"

Tyson glowered at his older brother, before storming out of the kitchen. From his bedroom, Tyson called, "Fine then, guess I'll just have to move out."

A suit case flew out of Tyson's doorway. Hiro watched Tyson chuck clothes into it. But all Hiro could do was watch, he didn't think Tyson would actually move out. Where would he move to? Oh yeah, to live with canvas boy. Hiro growled, but Tyson wasn't paying him any mind. The young bluenette was chucking all of his worldly possessions into his suit case.

Hiro stomped down the hall just in time for Tyson to come barreling out of his room and slam his suit case closed. Apparently while he had been hurtling things out of his room he had put his shoes on. Tyson picked up his suitcase and sped towards the front door.

"Tyson, come back right now!"

"Fuck off!"

Hiro reached for Tyson, but the door slammed in his face. He waited. Tyson was bluffing; he would realize that going to live with canvas boy was a bad idea. Hiro swung his wrist up in front of his face to check his watch. Five minutes had past. Tyson hadn't come back. The idea that maybe Tyson wasn't coming back skirted the edges of Hiro's mind. It wasn't possible. His baby brother wasn't that brave, he wouldn't do something like this. Would he?

Well fine, if Tyson was going to leave and do horrible things that he didn't want to think about with some shameless blond, then that was his business. At least Hiro wouldn't have to come home to any of those rather disgusting noises like he did the other day.

The next day, when Hiro showed up for work, he looked bedraggled and his tie was on backwards. It was this that peaked Hiromi's curiosity that morning. She watched him swagger about the store, doing his work correctly, but with a little less grace then she expected of him. The lithe brunette made her way over to Hiro's section. She decided that even if he wasn't going out with her, she could still check up on him as a friend and coworker. When she reached him, he wasn't working.

Hiro was leaning against the bookcase in deep thought. Or at least, he definitely exuded the air of one pondering the great mysteries of life. Hiromi carefully tip toed over to where Hiro was standing, and carefully tapped him on the shoulder. "Hiro, are you okay?"

"Huh?" He startled slightly at her touch, but after seeing who it was, he gave her a soft smile. "Yeah, Hiromi, I'm fine. Guess what? I'm so fine; I think I'd like to go out with you."

"W-what?" She stuttered. Her face flushed red in mortification and frustration. How could he possibly just accept her invitation after their spat yesterday? That wasn't fair.

"I'd like to go out with you. In fact, now would be preferable." He grabbed her wrist and started dragging her out of the store. They were gathering attention from the customers again. Hiromi glared at them, and this time they didn't immediately scurry off. _These people really need to get a life._ Hiromi thought angrily.

"Hey, you can't just take me out right now! What about yesterday and your noble intentions?" She screamed.

"Yesterday is yesterday, today is today. Why don't you think about it that way and come to this great little American restaurant in the food court I know located in the mall down the road?" He flashed his laid back grin at her and lead her out the front doors.

"No!" She wrested her wrist from his grasp and stumbled backward a few paces. "Why should I?

"Because you like me, and I like you. Why do I have to have a reason for deciding to spend some quality time for my favorite brunette?" The smile on his face didn't falter once, and Hiromi was having a hard time refusing the idea. Maybe she could ask him why he changed his mind over lunch. It was their lunch break after all. She smiled back and nodded.

Hiro held his hand out to her and she hesitated for a moment. She really shouldn't be giving in this easily, but this is what she had been wanting. How could she say no? Hiromi took his hand, and allowed him to walk her to the mall. He engaged her in a heated debate over whether pink really was the new black or if it was vice versa. She was laughing the whole way to the little American restaurant he knew. Hiromi was having such a good time she completely forgot to ask him why it was that he had changed his mind.

His little American restaurant was actually McDonalds. Hiromi laughed at him for that, and when they sat down to eat, he grabbed a fork and knife to eat his French fries with. He smirked at her and began the tedious task of cutting up a French fry. Hiromi shook her head at him, taking a large un-lady-like bite out of her hamburger. Hiro arched an eyebrow at her, and Hiromi returned the gesture. There was nothing wrong with her eating like a pig, just because he was eating as though he were at a gourmet restaurant.

"That's gross."

"No it's not. You're just acting too fancy for the setting." Hiromi scoffed. To add emphasis to her cause she wiped her mouth on her work uniform sleeve. Snorting, Hiro waved his fried potato at her, still impaled on his fork.

"Do you really want to know why I changed my mind?" Hiro asked seriously.

"Uh…yeah, I do." Hiromi blushed.

"The one whom I was defending has run off to live with a man who caused our three week long poverty."

"Tyson moved in with some guy who made you guys poor for three weeks?"

"Basically, yes."

"Who is this guy, and how did he make you poor?" Hiromi tried to make sense out of this, hoping that Hiro would explain.

Explain he did, "Tyson saw him one day, and bought a ridiculously expensive canvas to paint a picture of him on. He used up all of our savings, so we were living off of ketchup soup for a while. It took him a couple of weeks, but when he finished the painting we sold it for a couple hundred thousand dollars."

"Oh. Okay." Hiromi paused, "Who was the guy?"

"Some fashion model, I think his name was Max Tate."

"Maxie?" Hiromi shouted.

"You know him?" Hiro growled.

"Uh yeah, he's a friend of the family. Or rather, he's one of my best friends' best friends. So we've known each other for a long time." Hiromi murmured.

"Oh, well, he's got some nerve. I mean, I came home from work and caught them having sex. He didn't stop what he was doing at all, he just asked if I would like to join them!" Hiro threw his hands up in the air as a sign of disgust.

"Yeah, that sounds like Maxie alright. He's an acquired taste, trust me. Once you get to know him he really isn't that bad, he can be crude at times, but he's a good guy in the end."

"I guess. But Tyson got into a fight with me about him, and he ended up leaving to live with Max. So I figured, holding a grudge that really does no good isn't right, especially if it keeps me from actually being happy." Hiro cocked his head to the side and winked at her.

Hiromi nodded. That made sense, though she hadn't expected him to realize his blunder so soon in the game. She felt like something was wrong here. It felt as though he was lying to make her happy. Hiro wasn't someone known for forgetting grudges easily, especially when it dealt with his family. But Hiromi decided that she would deal with that bridge later, even if it was right in front of her at the moment. She would just have to take a few steps back for a while.

Bryan sat down at the table that morning and watched the doors to the dining room. One by one his family filed in to sit down. All were chatting happily, joking around and playing. Everyone was there except Rei. He sighed; he hadn't expected the feisty tiger to join him so soon. It would just take some time.

"Hi big brother!" Hiromi bounded over to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. She ruffled his hair and sat down next to him.

"What's got you in such a happy mood?" He asked her. It was quite uncommon for his baby sister to greet him with a good morning glomp.

"I've got a new boyfriend!" The room went dead silent. Everyone awaited his reaction, and Bryan could have laughed at their fearful expressions. Honestly, he wasn't that bad, was he? Maybe he needed to tone down his reactions a bit.

"Who is this boyfriend? Do I get to meet him, interrogate him, and otherwise scare all shit out of him? I am your big brother after all. Aren't I supposed to do these sorts of things?" Bryan shrugged and dug into his pancakes while he awaited and answer from Hiromi.

Said girl looked happy that he hadn't reacted in a murderous manner. "His name is Hiro Kinomiya. Yes, you can do all of that if you want."

Yuriy's jaw dropped, "You mean Tyson's older brother?"

"Yep, there isn't a problem with that is there?"

"Does he know you know me?"

"Yep."

"And he's still dating you?"

"Yeah, he doesn't hate you anymore. Oh, and guess what? Maxie and Tyson are together! Doesn't that sound cute?" Hiromi squealed and chose that moment to discover that her favorite breakfast had been presented to her.

"Max…and Tyson?" Yuriy looked like he might kill the table he was glaring at.

"What? You aren't jealous are you, Yuriy? Technically, you have no claim on him anymore." Hiromi watched her friend for his reaction.

"I know. But did he have to start dating _Max_ of all people? Max is more of a player than I am!"

"So? You worried about him? It sounds like Max is really serious about Tyson though. I mean, he even let Tyson move in with him after they had already had sex!" Hiromi exclaimed through a mouth full of peaches and cream oatmeal.

"What?" Yuriy's eyebrows disappeared behind his bangs.

"Yeah, Tyson moved in with Max the other day. That's why Hiro's okay with going out with me, if Tyson doesn't care about his opinion or whatever, than Hiro shouldn't hold on to grudges for the sake of defending his brother."

Bryan listened to this conversation only partly. As much as he was interested in his little sister's relationship, he was more concerned about his boyfriend. He had hardly seen Rei in the past few days. Every time that Bryan knocked on his door and asked to come in, Rei had told him to go away. So, choosing to let Rei come to him, he hadn't bothered him again. But it had been two weeks, and he was starting to get worried.

"I'm going to go check on Rei. I might or might not be back before you guys finish." Bryan stood and he chose to ignore the sympathetic glances sent his way. He stopped next to Hiromi and kissed her hair, and gave her shoulder a gentle squeal. She returned the gesture with a happy coo. "I'm very happy for your 'Romi."

He strode out of the room, and turned into Rei's personal hallway. Bryan was anxious, how would he know if Rei would just yell at him again? He came to stand in front of Rei's door. Raising a hand to knock on the door he hesitated. There was some shuffling on the other side of the door. It sounded like somebody was moving towards the bedroom door. Bryan lowered his hand and waited. That someone opened the door, revealing themselves as the one that Bryan was looking for.

When Rei saw Bryan standing outside his bedroom he immediately slammed the door. Bryan turned his eyes to the carpet. He wished that Rei would just give him a chance. Yeah, maybe the way he had gone about it was wrong, but still he should have gotten over it by now. Bryan opened the door without knocking and entered the room. Rei growled at the unwanted entry from his place on his bed. But Bryan ignored the gesture and moved closer.

Bryan kicked off his shoes and climbed onto the bed despite loud protests from Rei. He took Rei's clenched fist in his, trying to ease the tension. The raven haired man refused to meet his eyes. Bryan heaved another sigh but didn't leave. He wasn't going to give up this time. Moving forward, he maneuvered Rei beneath him. Rei's eyes widened in panic, and he writhed underneath his _lover_.

Bryan claimed Rei's lips with his, and ignored the cries of protest. Rei was _his_ and this was what Bryan wanted. The tiger struggled and groaned at the invasion of his mouth. Bryan had bitten down on his bottom lip and forced his tongue into Rei's mouth. Bryan knew that if Rei wasn't going to give in first, then he would just have to deal without Mr. Nice Bryan for a while.

The cries that Rei was producing were heart wrenching, but Bryan did his best to shut them out. A rather painful knee to the groin made him pull back and glare at the man beneath him. Bryan would have kept glaring, had the obvious tears in Rei's eyes not stopped him cold. The expression of horrified violation and misery was more effective then a cold shower had ever been. Rei used Bryan's falter to scramble off of the bed and lock himself in the bathroom.

Bryan curled up on the bed and mentally kicked himself. Forcing himself on his boyfriend wouldn't make him love Bryan, it would make him hate Bryan, if not fear him. The lavender haired mob boss clenched his fists as sobs echoed from the direction of the bathroom. How could he apologize for what he had done? There wasn't any way that sounded satisfactory in his mind. Silently, he slipped off of the bed and left the room.

**TBC…**


	10. Chapter 10

The XYZ Affair

**The XYZ Affair**

Chapter 10

Max raked a frustrated hand through his golden locks. Okay, so maybe inviting the brother to join them was a bad idea. But he didn't have to explode like that. Tyson was an adult after all. It had been a few hours since he was quite literally kicked out of the house. Draciel and Dragoon were watching television in the living room, and Max was now moving down the hall towards the front door.

Someone had started pounding on it, and now as he was busy unlocking it did he hear sobs coming from the other side. He yanked open the door, and found himself with an armful of hysterical Tyson. The lithe bluenette had dropped an overstuffed clunker of a suitcase next to him as soon as he had gotten inside. Max's eyes widened. As quietly as he could he closed the door and led Tyson to the bedrooms. Max tried not to have a panic attack, maybe he was just planning on staying over a couple of nights, right?

Max laid down his lover on his bed. Tyson's tears had finally subsided, and as Max sat down on the edge of the bed near Tyson's feet, the bluenette's eyes were on him. "Max…I was wondering if, I could move in with you."

Nope, Max was wrong. He definitely wanted to stay here for more than a couple of nights. "Um, Tyson, I don't think, I mean, why do you want to move in with me?"

"Because my brother and I had a fight about you, and he said that I couldn't see you as long as I was living with him. So, I thought if I lived with you then we could still be with each other." Tyson murmured, "It's that and the fact that I made a really dramatic exit and it would be kinda embarrassing now."

Max remained silent for a few moments. If he let Tyson move in with him, he might want the relationship to go even further. Sure, Max liked Tyson; he was an exceptionally good lay, quite flexible. But, Max wasn't a commitment guy. He hadn't planned on living with Tyson, or getting into a serious relationship with him. Damn. But how could he turn down those beaten puppy eyes? No, he was turning them on Max now! No!

"You can live here for a couple of days if you want to, you know, until the storm blows over." Max offered. Tyson nodded, and a smile lit up his face.

"Hold on, let me go get my stuff."

Max groaned as quietly as possible. His face was pressed against the palms of his hands. What had he gotten himself into now?

Tyson had woken up early. He'd always been a morning person. Though he desperately liked to sleep in most of the time, the latest he'd end up sleeping in was about eight. He did his best everything in the morning. So there he was, in Max's kitchen making them some breakfast.

It wasn't long before Max lumbered down the hallway and plopped down at the bar. Just in time too, as Tyson slipped him a plate full of scrambled eggs, bacon, and a waffle. Max ignored the breakfast and looked up at the person in his kitchen. "You're still here."

"You're not really thinking clearly today are you captain obvious?" Tyson asked.

"I am thinking clearly, you were supposed to leave last night."

Tyson gave him _the look_. Max ignored that too. They had both agreed that Tyson would be leaving last night, and would apologize to his brother and move back in with him. But for some reason, Tyson was still here.

"Why are you still here?" Max grumbled.

"Because Hiro wouldn't let me move back in, that's why!" Tyson's sudden screech was part unhappiness, and partly the cut now bleeding on his finger after having located a knife at the bottom of the soapy sink.

"He's not letting you come back? Why not?" Max growled. He liked Tyson, he honestly did, but having around constantly was starting to grate on his nerves. Not only was his presence starting to annoy him, but Max was worried that the annoyance was slowly starting to ebb away. He didn't want Tyson to live with him. He liked the annoyance, really he did.

"He says that since I obviously still want to be with you, and that I'd probably just sneak out to see you if I moved back in with him, I might as well stay here. That and he's still ticked off at me about that comment you made when he found us." Tyson explained.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry about that."

"It's okay, he's just not used to you."

"You know, I've heard that phrase way too many times." Max rolled his eyes and started eating his breakfast.

"Max…I have enough money, I could probably move out into an apartment of my own if I really bother you that much." Tyson told him, "But if it's just one thing that's bugging you, you could just tell me and I can stop. It isn't that big a deal."

Max turned his eyes to his plate. Tyson wasn't doing anything that bugged him. Max liked the breakfasts when he woke up, and he liked falling asleep with Tyson in his arms. He was just stubborn. Max refused to give in to the acceptance. He didn't want to enjoy coming home to Tyson at night, or go to the grocery market with Tyson. Max didn't want to admit it. But his mind did anyways; _you're in love with him._

"You're not doing anything wrong Tyson. Come here." Tyson rounded the kitchen island and sat on Max's lap. Max wrapped his arms around the petit bluenette and kissed him on the cheek.

"You don't have to keep trying to move in with your brother if you don't want." Max internally was kicking himself but he couldn't keep the words from flowing out of his mouth, "I don't want you to move out. I think I'm starting to get fond of your breakfasts you little cooking fiend."

Tyson smiled at that, and hopped off of Max's lap. "Alright then, how bout I make you some cookies then, hmm? Would my loveable pit that never ends like that?"

Max nodded eagerly, tuning out the insult instantly. He was just happy to see the happiness that lit up Tyson's eyes.

Tyson was positively glowing as he made Max's favorite cookies for him. It was a little difficult seeing as Max kept trying to swipe the cookie dough from him, but after five hard smacks to the hand, Max stopped. But now they were going to have a great deal less cookies then they were initially going to. Tyson sighed and put the tray into the oven and closed the door.

"Max, get your ass in here and help me clean up this mess!"

"Why would I want to do that?" Max whined from the living room.

"Because if you don't you're not getting any sex for a year!"

There were hurried footsteps as Max rushed into the room to help with cleanup. Tyson laughed at that, and watched happily as the blond ran around doing dishes and wiping down counters.

Raul was skipping down the corridor as per usual. Ever since Brooklyn's apology, he had been a little less mean. Whatever higher power was out there was definitely smiling down on Raul at the moment. In fact, Brooklyn and him had a completely civil conversation just the other day. Brooklyn hadn't said anything remotely sarcastic or insulting. Though the miraculous event had only lasted five minutes, it was a new record.

So, Raul was hurrying down the corridor towards Brooklyn's room to surprise him. Brooklyn had been having a particularly bad time at the school today, apparently there was an out of hand kid that just wouldn't behave. Raul knew that despite these days Brooklyn really did enjoy teaching, even if he liked to kill certain teenagers outside of class.

When he knocked on Brooklyn's door there was a mass shuffling inside before the door slid open. "Hey Raul, what's up?"

"Oh, I just wanted to surprise you is all. You looked like you were in a bad mood when you showed up for breakfast this morning. Also, we're supposed to be heading back home in a few minutes."

"Right, I forgot. Come on in." Raul refrained from arching an eyebrow at Brooklyn's behavior. This was new and different. Not only had Brooklyn asked Raul what was going on with a _smile_, but he had invited him into his quarters. Raul followed the usually stoic man inside and sat down on his bed.

"So what was wrong, did you have a bad day at school or something?"

"No, actually, that kid really got to shutting up after a while."

Raul voiced his confusion almost automatically, "Then why on earth did you look like he grim reaper at the meeting today?"

"Come on, I didn't look that bad, did I?"

"Uh, yeah you did."

"Oh, I was just thinking about…things, is all." Brooklyn moved over to where his leather briefcase lay and picked it up.

"We should be heading out, knowing our _friends_ Yuriy and Hiromi have already started home. You can ride with me if you want."

"Thanks, Brookie." Raul paused in the doorway, "Brookie, what were you thinking about?"

"I'll tell you when we get home."

Brooklyn easily evaded the subject by dragging Raul through the long twisting hallways and down to the private staff garage. He threw his brief case into the backseat and slid easily into the driver's seat. Raul entered in the passenger side and watched Brooklyn start the car. They left the garage, and passed through the private exit.

Raul silently watched the snow blossoms line the air. As they were now well into winter, they're trees had finally started blooming. In their odd little town grew the Snow Blossom Tree. They were a light grey, striped with pale yellow. Shaped exactly like cherry blossoms, they were a sign of winter as the cherry blossoms were a sign of spring. Beautiful and melancholy at the same time, Raul loved snow blossoms.

They drove through North district, and weaved through B alley. It wasn't long before they reached their house in West district. Brooklyn opened the garage as he pulled up and coasted in along side Yuriy's motorcycle.

"We're home now." Raul nudged Brooklyn suggestively. "What were you thinking about?"

"You."

Raul pouted, "Wow, glad I induce such depressed feelings."

Brooklyn grabbed Raul's wrist before he could get out of the car, "No, that wasn't it. Wait."

Raul waited, but his hand was still on the door handle.

"I was thinking about how hard it's been trying to hate you."

Raul snorted, that statement wasn't very encouraging but it was a start. He released his grip on the car door and moved back into his seat. "Oh really?"

"Yes. I've been thinking about you a lot lately. I've realized that, I don't really hate you, when I can get you to stop bouncing and actually talk, that is." Raul nodded for Brooklyn to continue.

"I mean, I don't really mind you as long as you're not constantly bouncing. We agree on a lot of stuff, and I can't say you aren't…well, attractive."

Raul blushed, he was starting to like where this was going.

"What I'm trying to say is that I think I might actually,"Brooklyn paused, "like you."

"Finally." Raul restrained a squeal as he leaped onto the man he had been in love with for so long. "I thought you weren't ever going to like me."

Brooklyn sighed and settled for wrapping his arms around Raul's waist. "I'll try not to bounce as much, but it might be hard."

Brooklyn grinned at that as he kissed Raul's head. "Okay, let's go inside and give Yuriy his 'I told you so' moment."

"Do we have to?" Raul whined.

"Yes."

"Why?"

Brooklyn glanced up and watched as Hiromi bounded back inside, "Because Hiromi just saw us and is going to haul Yuriy out here if we don't get inside soon."

"Damn."

**TBC…**


	11. Chapter 11

The XYZ Affair

**The XYZ Affair**

Chapter 11

Yuriy showed up at Kai's apartment as usual on Friday. His uniform was in place, and he had brought all of his cleaning supplies. However, Kai wasn't talking to him. Last Yuriy checked, the stormy man was brooding in his bedroom. Every time Yuriy tried talking to Kai, the bluenette would simply demand that Yuriy bring Rei back. When he refused to do so, Kai would stop talking to him.

That was it. He had kicked the door down once, and he could do it again. Plus, if Yuriy demolished Kai's bedroom door then he could no longer hide in there. Having made up his mind, he sashayed down the hallways towards Kai's room. He knocked confidently on the door, and receiving no answer he announced his presence verbally. "Kai, either you can let me in, or I'll let myself in, and we all know which method I use for the latter."

There was a resigned movement inside the room, and it wasn't long before the bedroom door was opened. Kai pouted at him, and walked away from the opened door. Yuriy followed him inside and shut the door behind him.

"Kai, you know that I can't bring Rei back. So why can't you stop shutting me out?" Yuriy demanded.

"Because, Rei's my best friend, you _can_ bring him back, you just don't want to." Kai spat from his place on the bed. Yuriy moved towards him and sat down on the bed next to him.

"I do want to, but Bryan would fire me."

"So, don't you also work for Rei, and write books or whatever?"

"Yes, but Bryan's my best friend too. I don't want to fight with him."

Kai snorted, "Oh, so you'd rather fight with me."

"Kai…" Yuriy groaned.

"Well, think of it this way, you're going to stay single if you don't bring Rei back to me." Kai leapt off of the bed and locked himself in the bathroom. Yuriy was wondering what it was with submissive partners hiding in bathrooms. After many long discussions with Bryan, he had discovered that Rei favored that escape method too. Only, the thing was that Bryan was nicer and didn't threaten to break down doors if Rei didn't come out.

Yuriy carefully approached the bathroom door, deciding that maybe the peaceful Bryan method might be more successful. "Kai, pleas come out. You can go live with Rei if you want."

There was a pause as Kai thought this over. Yuriy waited. He wasn't actually sure if Bryan would allow one of Rei's friends to come liver there. But there was the possibility that Bryan might see it as a way to improve his chances with Rei. "Would I actually get to see him, or would I just be living near him?"

"You'd get to see him." Yuriy assured. He would make sure that Kai got to see Rei. If Yuriy couldn't bring Rei to Kai, then he could bring Kai to Rei. It was a good compromise. He kindly left out the part about Kai not getting to leave the building after he had moved in but…Kai didn't need to know that right now.

Kai unlocked the bathroom door and shuffled in front of Yuriy. The flame haired man took Kai by the arm and led him to his car. Kai was silent the whole way to the garage. They both took their respective seats in the car, and Yuriy drove them towards head quarters. Kai watched him maneuver expertly from lane to lane.

"You know, Rei was teaching me how to drive. Because he bought me a car so I could get around, but I didn't know how to drive it when he first showed it to me."

"Hmm, I'm trying to imagine Rei giving you driving lessons."

"Oh haha. Very funny." Kai muttered. The rest of the trip was made without conversation.

When they arrived on the top floor, Yuriy led Kai through the extravagant corridors. It took a few minutes to get to Rei's personal hallway. Yuriy opened the door to Rei's room. Kai saw Rei sitting on his bed, and Rei looked up to see who it was that had entered his room. Their eyes locked, and both bounded towards each other. As Rei and Kai hugged, Yuriy slipped out of the room without a sound. Shutting the door behind him with an inaudible click, Yuriy strolled down the hallway.

Brooklyn had come to the startling and somewhat frustrating realization that Raul wasn't as intolerable as Brooklyn had initially thought. Ever since he had been forced to apologize to Raul, the energetic blob had kindly toned down his enthusiasm. Now that Brooklyn could talk to his fellow gang member without fearing a random glomp, he had decided that Raul wasn't all that bad. Their conversations however short usually proved entertaining and more than just tolerable. So, it was during today's meeting that he was more than a little grim.

How could he concentrate on what he was going to say to the blithe little pixie when said pixie was resting a hand on his thigh? Not only that, but the blighter was instigating a game of footsy. When Brooklyn turned to give Raul a reprimanding glare, the criminal merely winked at him. This of course destroyed any form of resolve that Brooklyn had accumulated.

It was a long hour, possibly the most drawn out sixty minutes that Brooklyn had ever sat through. But guaranteed, as soon as the meeting was over, Brooklyn shot out of the conference room and followed his route to his old quarters.

The dimly illuminated steel corridor was cramped, and could turn an Agoraphobic into a Claustrophobic in a matter of seconds. His footsteps echoed all around him, and as he quickened his pace the ringing only became louder. When he reached his quarters, he locked the door behind him. He felt much better now that he was in his room. He moved over to his old bed and took a seat. Now he could try and plan what it was exactly that he was going to say to Raul…But he wasn't given much time.

There was a knock on his door, and as he opened it, he caught sight of flaming red hair. Oh no, Raul certainly had bad timing.

"Hey Raul, what's up?"

His favorite pixie smiled before announcing, "Oh, I just wanted to surprise you is all. You looked like you were in a bad mood when you showed up for breakfast this morning. Also, we're supposed to be heading back home in a few minutes."

"Right, I forgot. Come on in." Brooklyn could tell that his _kindness_ was surprising Raul a bit, the petit man had never been good at hiding his emotions.

"So what was wrong, did you have a bad day at school or something?"

"No, actually that kid really got to shutting up after a while."

Brooklyn noticed Raul's puzzled expression and knew what was to come next.

"Then why on earth did you look like the grim reaper at the meeting today?"

_Because I have to find a way to tell you that I do want to go out with you, you smarmy little bastard._

"Come on, I didn't look that bad, did I?" Brooklyn nervously scratched the back of his head. He didn't mean to put on such a face.

"Uh, yeah you did."

"Um, I was just thinking about…things, is all." Brooklyn went and picked up his leather brief case, remembering that they had to be getting home. "We should be heading out, knowing our _friends_ Yuriy and Hiromi have already started home. You can ride with me if you want."

"Thanks, Brookie." Raul paused, "Brookie, what were you thinking about?"

"I'll tell you when we get home."

The ride home was basically uneventful, and Brooklyn noticed that Raul was really saying anything. This was a plus considering he usually never shut up. Just as he was pulling into the garage, he felt a nudge to his elbow. He sighed and looked over at his companion.

"We're home now."

"What were you thinking about?"

Well, here goes, "You."

He could practically feel Raul's pout, "Wow, glad I induce such depressed feelings."

Seeing that Raul was about to leave the car, Brooklyn grabbed him before he could escape, "No, that wasn't it. Wait."

Raul waited, and Brooklyn knew this was his chance. "I was thinking about how hard it's been trying to hate you."

"Oh really?" Raul was shifting in his seat now; obviously he wasn't the most comfortable person in the world at the moment. Great, this wasn't coming out the way he wanted it to. Brooklyn sighed.

"Yes, I've been thinking about you a lot lately. I've realized that, I don't really hate you, when I can get you to stop bouncing and actually talk, that is." Raul nodded his approval for him to keep going, so Brooklyn took that as a good sign.

"I mean, I don't really mind you as long as you're not constantly bouncing. We agree on a lot of stuff, and I can't say you aren't …well, attractive." Brooklyn was finding it increasingly difficult to keep himself from blushing.

"What I'm trying to say is that I might actually," Brooklyn paused, "like you."

"Finally, I thought you weren't ever going to like me." This comment made him feel slightly bad about how he had been treating Raul, but obviously Raul was happy so the statement was soon forgotten.

Raul leaped into Brooklyn's arms and muttered, "I'll try not to bounce as much, but it might be hard."

Brooklyn kissed Raul's head and murmured, "Okay, let's go inside and give Yuriy his 'I told you so' moment."

"Do we have to?" Raul whined.

Brooklyn chuckled at that, "Yes."

"Why?"

Brooklyn glanced up and watched as Hiromi bounded back inside, "Because Hiromi just saw us and is going to haul Yuriy out here if we don't go inside soon."

"Damn."

Raul sighed happily as he lay in Brooklyn's arms. They had just spent the day moving all of Raul's things into Brooklyn's room. It had been a difficult task seeing as how much clothing Raul had, but with everyone working together they had managed to finish the immense job in one day. Now, they were both trying to get some sleep. However, this was not easy, as their friends were now moving around downstairs and making a great deal of noise.

"Do you think they'll ever shut up?"

"Probably not." Brooklyn responded.

Raul snuggled closer to his new boyfriend and fell into a peaceful sleep.

The next day, Raul was now dragging Brooklyn through the market. Brooklyn groaned and followed. Raul, seeing a new clothing stand hurried over. He grabbed the first pair of jeans that he saw. Raul looked them over, checking the size before asking the person managing the stand how much they cost. What, only a thousand yen? Brooklyn watched on hopelessly as his love continued to buy more and more clothing. At this rate their entire room would be covered in clothing. Brooklyn would have sighed but there has been too much sighing in this fanfiction already. Ah, the joys of amorous young couples.

**TBC…**


	12. Chapter 12

The XYZ Affair

**The XYZ Affair**

Chapter 12

Rei was about to head down to his personal living room and watch some television when his bedroom door opened. When Kai walked in, followed by Yuriy, Rei wondered what was going on. Why was Kai here? Rei rushed over to his friend and enveloped him in a tight hug. "Kai!"

He was so busy holding Kai he didn't notice Yuriy leave. He drew back and stared at Kai for a moment before a thought crossed his mind.

"Kai, they didn't get you too did they?"

"What do you mean?" Kai asked, "I just wanted to see you, and Yuriy said I could come and stay here with you."

Rei's eyes widened in realization, Kai wouldn't be allowed to leave either. "Kai, you do know that you can't leave now either. Yuriy did tell you that, right?"

Kai's expression said it all. Apparently everyone's favorite assassin hadn't informed the bluenette that he too had become a prisoner. Rei led Kai back to the bed and sat him down. The both of them simply sat like that for a while. How could Yuriy do that? Why didn't he warn Kai about his inability to leave once he arrived? Rei sighed and turned towards his friend.

"Kai, as happy as I am to see you, I wished you had just stayed at home. Now you aren't allowed to leave either, and you're stuck here like I am."

"Why aren't you allowed to leave?" Kai exclaimed.

"Because Bryan kidnapped me to be his lover, that's why. I've basically been trapped in an overly luxurious prison for the past two weeks. Other than Bryan attempting to be a doting boyfriend, it really isn't that bad here. I'm learning to like it." Rei tried his best to smile for Kai, knowing that's what his friend wanted to see.

Kai shook his head, "Rei, how can you be cheery when you're being forced to be with someone you don't wanna be with? That doesn't make sense."

"Kai, I'm not happy, or cheery. I'm just making the best out of a really shitty situation. I may not be allowed to go outside, but there's an indoor garden down the hallway. It has real sunlight let in, and real dirt brought from outside with grass and soft sand pathways. It's beautiful in there. So I get my worth of outdoors in there. Come on, you want to see it, I know you do." Rei took Kai by the arm and started leading him towards the door.

Kai wasn't fooled by the false smiles and the perky chatter. Rei wasn't 'learning to like' this at all. Rei was a brave man, and a strong one. He wasn't afraid of anything but a prison. He hated being cooped up, and forced to stay in one place. If he chose to stay in one place, than that was one thing, but being forced to stay brought back painful memories from behind scarred walls.

Not only that, but Kai was sure that Rei was leaving something out. Something had gone down, and it was something big for Rei to be putting on his mask again. However, the only way to find out what that something was to let Rei tell him on his own time. So, Kai allowed himself to be led down the grand hallways towards the 'garden room' that Rei had told him about.

The walls climbed an exaggerated height to a domed ceiling. They were a tanned orange color, and Kai appreciated the soft carpet beneath his feet. It was a short trip. Rei reached out and put his palm on a cool metal plate next to the door. There was a click and the door slid open for them. Kai followed his raven haired friend into the room. His jaw dropped.

He watched as Rei slipped off his shoes and let go of his hand. The neko jinn lithely ran through the soft grass. Now in his element, Rei looked much more at ease. Were those real birds that just flew over head? Kai mimicked his friend's actions, and sprinted after him. As Rei had described to him, real sunlight flowed through steel rafters to illuminate the serene atmosphere. Plants from all climates were around him, and Kai could understand how the neko jinn could feel at home in this room. It really did feel like they were outdoors.

But still, as tranquil as his surroundings were, Kai couldn't help but remember their situation. What had gone on between Rei and Bryan? His worry for Rei consumed him, and soon Kai halted in his jog. No longer carefree, Kai took a break and sat down in the shade of an oak tree. How could he help his friend if he didn't know what the problem was? There was no way that he could just go right up to him and ask him what was really going on between him and Bryan. That definitely wouldn't work. Kai sighed.

This was really starting to grate on his nerves. Hearing footsteps Kai froze. Rei's footsteps weren't that heavy. He pushed himself behind the large oak and waited for the person to pass. It was a few seconds before he peeked out from around the trunk. Bryan strode tall and proud down the clear path. Kai's heart skipped a beat as he tried his best to follow without being noticed.

It seemed that Bryan had done this before, because he led Kai straight to Rei with minimal effort. Kai leapt into the bushes and peered out at his friend. If things started to go bad then Kai would intervene, but for now he wanted to see what exactly was going on between the infamous mob boss and his best friend. Bryan moved closer to Rei but still kept his distance.

The lavender haired man took a seat and watched Rei with an indefinable expression upon his face. "Rei, I know that I have no excuse for what I did, it was wrong of me to do that to you. All I can do is apologize and hope that we can move on."

"Bryan…you don't have to apologize." Kai couldn't believe what he was hearing. Whatever it was that Bryan did, Kai was sure that he had to apologize for it. "I am yours. That's why I'm here, isn't it?"

Rei put on a soft smile and moved forward to close the distance between them. Bryan seemed to be taking each word Rei spoke as truth. He opened his arms and Rei fell into them. His hair wept jet black tears that streamed over his shoulder, and golden pools suddenly became glued to Kai's face. Their eyes met and Rei begged him not to say a word. Kai bit his bottom lip as he watched.

Rei forced himself to lift up his head and place a hesitant kiss on Bryan's lips. The falcon was just as surprised as Kai by the rather forward action. Rei gripped the fabric of Bryan's shirt and furthered the kiss, Kai was sure that he had seen some tongue. Bryan returned the gesture and Kai was still wondering what the hell Rei was doing.

Suddenly, a slender hand clamped itself over his mouth and Kai thought he might have a heart attack. Which arm starts to cramp when your heart's about to give out? Left or right? He struggled with all his might as he was pulled out of the garden room. Finally when the door slid shut behind Kai and his assailant he was released.

"Hey Kai, how've you been?" Damn him, the slutty house cleaner. Kai turned and stared at Yuriy with the biggest scowl he could muster. But the snarky red head was smirking at him with one hand on his hip.

"You only saw me a short while ago, why in the hell are you asking how I've been?" Kai shot back. Yuriy's smirk grew as he took a step forward. Kai stepped back until he was pressed up against the wall. Yuriy continued moving forward until his hips were grinding against Kai's. Kai wished this wasn't so arousing so that he could glare at the fruity assassin properly. When Yuriy did pull back far enough that they were no longer pressed together, Kai cursed his hips for bucking forward for more contact.

"You still didn't answer my question." Yuriy whispered in his ear, a sing song tone lacing his voice. Kai wanted to murder him.

"I know I didn't. Maybe I don't want to?" Kai growled.

"Oh, well maybe I want you to, and _maybe_ you should."

"Why?"

"I might have to _punish_ you." Yuriy's face lit up as he slid his hands between Kai's back and the wall all the way down to grip the bluenette's ass. Kai let out a small squeak at the pressure on his rear and lurched forward to try and get away from it. But as he did so he put himself in an even more unpleasant situation. Yuriy now had him in his arms, pressed up against his chest. Kai pouted. This was certainly not going in his favor.

"Kai, am I still going to remain single now that I've brought you to Rei?" Yuriy asked seriously.

"You might, if you don't start working on an apology for not telling me that I can't _leave_ this place whenever I want to."

"Shit."

"Better start thinking of an excuse and an apology soon, or I might put these new boots to use." Kai narrowed his eyes into a fierce glare. The expression that Yuriy donned was one of a most amusing looks of fear Kai had ever seen. It was very difficult to keep a straight face while Yuriy started to sweat with anxiety. Kai could almost hear the cogs turning in Yuriy's head as he tried to come up with an excuse and an apology at the same time. So he waited.

While waiting, Kai made him more comfortable. He leaned back against the wall and wrapped his arms around Yuriy's neck. The red head tightened his grip on Kai while he was thinking, and Kai couldn't say that he minded. Several guards passed them by, and apparently it wasn't unusual to find Yuriy in this position with another man, because none of them gave them a second glance. Hmm, Kai would have to talk with Yuriy about that.

Sometimes, even though you don't want to, you are forced to take on roles that you wouldn't have at any other time. There are times where you just need to be what you are told to be, doing as you are told to do. So no matter if you believe the lies you tell or not, you are to follow them dutifully and without question. So as Rei took that hesitant step of kissing Bryan, he knew full well what he was doing. He belonged to Bryan now.

Some might say that Rei was sacrificing himself for someone who didn't deserve it. Some might say that he was weak, but neither was true. There are different types of strengths in the world. There are the women who are strong in the way that they carry on day in and day out while their men are fighting in a war. There are children who are strong in the way that they care for siblings while a parent cannot. There are the people who are strong in the way that they live the lie that was created for them to live in. Rei is very much strong in the way that he has decided to please someone who is so far gone that he has no idea how to find that pleasure for himself any longer. Rei pushed Bryan down onto the ground and crawled on top of him, never once breaking the kiss he had started.

He felt no remorse as he drew back and spoke, "I belong to you, I am your lover, I am your boyfriend. I am whatever it is that you want me to be, Bryan Kuznetsov."

"Rei…" Bryan brushed a long onyx strand behind Rei's ear. "You don't have to do this."

"You're right, I don't have to, I _want_ to." Rei smiled once more down at Bryan. It was now that he felt more at peace then he had the entire past two weeks. In his mind now, he was being productive, he was serving a purpose; much like the idea that house wives please their husbands, and find joy in cooking them dinner and cleaning their house. A sense of satisfaction derived solely from a controlled servitude. In fact, after living a life where he had to make so many decisions daily, it was nice to have someone else make his choices for him.

But as he put on his brave face mentally for what he was doing now, there was still a part of him that screamed for this to stop. Rei hated the idea of 'belonging' to anyone. He loved the idea of choosing to be with someone. If anyone can find that special someone that adds to their life in a way that no one else could, then they are truly blessed. But Rei felt as though that chance had been stolen from him as he moved to unbutton Bryan's shirt. His body switched to autopilot as his mind took a break to swim in a sinewy stream of his deeper most thoughts.

Rei didn't feel his hands brush over Bryan's nipples, or tug at the mob boss's belt. These hands were not his own. The pants and moans that passed over his lips, surely they weren't his, right? Those sounds were all coming from Bryan. Rei's lips quivered. The stinging that pricked the back of his eyes alerted him that he would start crying soon. The heart that leapt into his throat and strangled him so heard he gasped was a definite warning sign. His mind and body reunited and Rei sobbed.

Rei tried to stand up and flee to his bedroom but Bryan caught him by the arm. The lavender haired man's eyes were filled with love, apology, and concern. Rei knew that after he had been at the infamous Kuznetsov building of North District for a while, Bryan's thoughts towards him had changed. Bryan no longer thought of him as an object, but as a person. So the love that had previously been wrongly acted upon, was at the front of Bryan's mind, and illuminated in a different light. Rei wished that he could return the feelings so deeply.

He searched and searched his heart, his mind, his soul, but it just wasn't there. What Rei felt was a sense of adaptation. He was human, he had acclimated to the idea, the role, the surroundings, and moved on. Rei had gotten used to the idea that now he was Bryan's boy friend, his lover, or whatever Rei was. But not so in the emotional sense as much. Rei had spent the last few days trying to find within him the will to love Bryan in return. He had sat on his bed for hours, trying to persuade himself that the slight attraction, the cool icy seduction was really a by-product of love. But it wasn't.

Rei found himself back in Bryan's lap, with strong arms around him as he cried.

_Rei lied on his bed, thinking about how odd it was that him and Bryan could be lovers and live in opposite sides of the building. Bryan had a whole floor just for him and Hiromi. The floor beneath that one (which was the one that Rei was currently living on) was reserved for his best friends: Yuriy, Brooklyn, and Raul. Rei now lived there as well. Did that make him a best friend or a friend with benefits? He sighed. _

_The door to his room opened and Rei didn't bother to look up. The heavy foot falls was enough of a clue. Bryan had entered his room. A few minutes before the sink in the mattress Rei screwed his eyes shut. He hoped that Bryan would believe his false sleep and leave. But of course, the mob boss didn't do as Rei wanted. He crawled to the center of the bed and lied down next to Rei. Strong arms encircled Rei's lithe waist. Were those butterflies fluttering in his stomach? Rei hoped not. _

_The sensation of Bryan's arms around him didn't bother him anymore. In fact, it was now a bit comforting. They created a safe wall around him, keeping all of the dangers of the world out. Rei had already admitted to himself in his sleep hazed state the other night that he thoroughly enjoyed being in Bryan's hold. He felt protected, and loved. Though he didn't find the same level of love in himself for Bryan, he liked the feeling of having Bryan love him. Everyone wants to be loved, after all._

Hiromi giggled as Hiro carried her bridal style over the threshold of the dojo. He didn't set her down until he had reached the living room. There he set her down on the couch and stared down at her. He whistled lowly and smirked. "I've certainly caught the best fish of the day now haven't I?"

The mirth that bubbled up in her throat couldn't be stopped as she squealed, "_Hiro_!"

Said man sat down next to her, placing a kiss on her nose. "Hiromi, where do you see our relationship heading?"

Hiromi's giggling stopped as she met Hiro's gaze. He had lost the silly attitude was had become entirely serious. They had only been dating for a while, maybe a month or two. He was this serious already? Hiromi felt nervous, she hadn't really thought about their relationship going in any sort of direction. She was sure that she liked Hiro, he was the only boyfriend that she'd ever had and she knew that he was definitely the kind of boyfriend she wanted. But was he talking about something else?

"I don't know, I hadn't really thought about it." Hiromi held her breath as Hiro scooted closer to her on the couch.

"I love you Hiromi, I'm not the kind of person who bases stages of a relationship on time. I know how I feel about you, but I'm not sure how you feel about me."

Hiromi let out the breath she had been holding and thought. She knew she liked Hiro, but how much? Did she _love_ him? Hiromi tried the think back on all of the things that they had done together. They'd already consummated their relationship more then a few times, so that wouldn't be a reason for marriage. Hiromi didn't consider herself the type of girl who would marry just for sex anyways. When she looked at Hiro, she knew instantly that he was telling her the truth. He was looking at her with a kind of love that she had never seen from Yuriy or Bryan.

Hiromi turned away from Hiro, she didn't want to hurt him, but she wasn't sure she felt that strongly for him yet. She didn't know him that well, and she wasn't sure if she could just give him her heart like that. "I'm sorry Hiro, I like you, but I'm not sure if I can really _love_ you yet. I just haven't known you that long and…"

She broke off as she recalled his words, words that he had spoken to her not that long ago in fact, "I mean, I don't know you very well." Her reasoning wilted inside of her.

"So, you want to know me better?"

"Yes." Hiromi relaxed a little at his unperturbed tone. Knowing that her words hadn't bothered him was a comfort.

"What do you want to know?" The comfort was gone, he was serious. He thought she meant right now she wanted to know more about him. But that wasn't what she wanted! Hiromi wanted to gradually get to know him over time.

"That's not what I meant."

"Then what did you mean?" Hiro hadn't raised his voice the entire time they had been sitting there. He was calm, or at least that's how he appeared to Hiromi. It was unnerving how well he was taking this all in.

"I meant that I wanted to get to know you over time, not all at once." Hiromi breathed out. She leaned against the couch, trying to calm herself down as much as Hiro had done himself.

"And you can't do that if we think about what direction our relationship is heading in?" He arched a confused eyebrow at her and Hiromi realized how foolish she was being.

"I don't know." She whispered.

"You'll have more time to figure that out depending on which you prefer, a summer or a winter wedding?" Her head shot up and her wide eyes met his smiling ones. He actually said it, he mentioned a wedding. She had always wanted a beautiful summer wedding at night time where she could have gorgeous call lilies. That left a long while, it was January, and the part of summer her dream wedding would be in was about July. So that left five months to get to know him better? Wait, she was thinking about this.

What was worse, but Hiro was smirking at her! That smarmy little bastard, he was actually smirking at her. "I love you! Is that what you wanted to hear?"

"Yes." His smirk became a smile as he reached out to hold her. She begrudged to letting him wrap his arms around her when a deliciously mean thought came to mind. "You do know that Yuriy would be my maid of honor right?"

"Oh shit."

Bryan now lay in his private rooms, on his bed. Rei lie next to him, tear streaks down his face. After the tiger had cried himself to sleep, Bryan had carried him here. Of course, he couldn't sleep, now that Rei was with him, Bryan wanted to make sure that he stayed safe. Even though there were over a dozen guards watching patrolling this floor, Bryan decided it was too much of a habit.

When he had first entered the social ranks of the criminal world, he hadn't had that any guards or that much security camera systems around his newly built building in North District. So he kept little fourteen year old Hiromi in his room with him. She would sleep in his bed right next to him, and he would stay up all night and keep watch. He loved her so much, there was no way that he would just fall asleep and let someone take her from him in the night. There was no way.

So now, as he reached for Rei, he knew that there was no way he was going to sleep tonight. Rei snuggled close to the warmth of Bryan's body, and purred slightly. Bryan smiled and kissed the top of Rei's head. He ran one hand through the long ebony locks that had broken out of the usual bind on their way up the stairs. Rei was so beautiful. Bryan knew this already, but it was even more evident during sleep. Without the false smiles, or the fear, or the distress lacing his soft features, Rei was so much more beautiful then during the light of day. Bryan sighed at the reminder of how much pain he caused his beloved. He nuzzled his face against Rei's satiny locks.

Bryan could feel Rei stirring. There was a small pause before Rei pulled back. Bryan made no move to stop him; instead he waited for Rei to speak. He watched as Rei turned and looked around with his neko-jinn night vision. There was obvious confusion on Rei's face as he turned back to Bryan.

"Where are we?" Rei asked.

"We're in my bedroom; I carried you here after you fell asleep. That isn't a problem is it?" Not hearing a response from Rei, Bryan carried on, "Because if it is then I could take you back to your own room if you want."

"No, it's fine Bryan."

"Are you sure?" Bryan wasn't sure why they were both whispering. The room was sound proof, and it was Bryan's room after all. As far as he knew, they were the only ones in the room.

"Yes." Rei replied. The tiger was staring at other aspects of the room, such as the bookshelves and the television, and the couches. There was a long moment where neither of them said a word.

The moment was broken by Rei taking a shaky breath before speaking, "Bryan, I know you love me. Believe me when I say that I want to love you back, I really do. But the feelings aren't there, not completely anyways."

Bryan chose that moment to look down at the comforter.

"They aren't completely there, but there is something. I think that I can love you as much as you love me, just not yet. It's weird. I know that I should love you, because of all of the other things that I feel when I'm around you, but I just can't find it. Am I making sense?" Bryan nodded at Rei, signaling for him to continue.

"I mean, I think that if we just take things slowly, one at a time, that this can work out great. But for right now, how bout we work on the little things? Like maybe we could go on our first date!" Bryan couldn't see Rei as clearly as the neko-jinn could see him, but he knew by Rei's voice that he was smiling.

"That could be a good idea." Bryan murmured.

"Good. Before we both go to sleep, how bout a goodnight kiss?"

"Of course." Bryan captured Rei's lips with his in a short chaste kiss. Rei smiled against Bryan's lips and lied back down on the bed. He lifted up his hips so as to slide the comforter out from underneath him, and slipped under the covers. Bryan followed suit and snuggled close to his boyfriend. Rei allowed Bryan to wrap his arms around his waist.

"Night Rei."

"Night Bryan."

**TBC…**


	13. Chapter 13

The XYZ Affair

**The XYZ Affair**

Chapter 13

Yuriy had finally thought of something. He stared down at Kai, whom was currently fighting off a laugh. "If I had told you before hand then you wouldn't have gone, and gotten to see Rei, and I wouldn't have even the slightest chance of being with you. Oh, and I'm sorry."

Kai was apparently satisfied with this, well, satisfied enough not to criticize or question the reasoning. "Oh, and not being with me is a bad thing?"

Yuriy narrowed his eyes at Kai. This was not something that he didn't want to go into this. He knew what Kai was doing; he was trying to get him to admit to things that Yuriy really didn't want to admit to at the moment. But having Kai's hands migrating towards a certain area was really helping him head towards admitting _anything_. Yuriy leaned forward, much to Kai's amusement. Just as Yuriy was about tilt Kai's chin up so that their lips could meet, the bluenette demon was trying to slip from his grasp.

Yuriy grabbed Kai by the shoulders and shoved him against the wall. "Not being with you would be a very bad thing…because I wouldn't get to do this whenever I wanted."

Yuriy captured Kai's lips with his. Kai pulled back and smirked, "Really?"

"Yeah, now _please_ stop talking."

(**Insert your own lemon scented imaginative scene here**)

Sunlight flickered in through the slatted blinds to illuminate the pair of sleeping men tangled up in the sheets of the bed. Kai's arms were around Yuriy's neck, and one of his legs was entangled with Yuriy's. The red head's arms were around Kai's waist, one of his hands slipping lower to cup the bluenette's buttocks. It was the snickering coming from the foot of the bed that woke them both up.

Yuiry lazily lifted up his head and saw his three best friends giggling at him. Brooklyn, Raul, and Hiromi were experimentally poking Kai in the foot. Yuiry could only laugh as he slid off the bed to start getting dressed. Hiromi politely focused her attention on Kai and turned her head slightly to avoid looking at Yuriy while he dressed. Kai, however, was just now waking up to find people he didn't know look at him naked, and poking his foot.

Kai leaped up off of the bed and screamed, "Who the fuck are you? Why are you in here?"

"We are the Spanish inquisition, you have been identified as Jewish, and you will not be given the privilege of a quick and painless death." Brooklyn replied, putting on his best poke face to add to the effect.

Kai growled, and pulled the sheets around him quick as lightning. "Yuriy, seriously, who are these people?"

"Those people are seriously my best friends. They're just teasing you, if you don't want Brooklyn and Raul watching you change you can use my bathroom." Yuriy tossed Kai his boxers from last night. Kai nodded appreciatively and grabbed other articles of clothing that he recognized as his from the night before. Still clutching the sheet to him, Kai darted into the bathroom and locked the door.

"Yuriy, that was unfair. You said that the bum had quite the package!" Raul whined.

"Oh shut up Raul! By the way, since when did you get my new code? I thought I'd changed it!"

"You seem to forget that I'm the gang's resident hacker!" Raul beamed.

Yuriy rolled his eyes and tugged on his shirt. He fell back down onto the edge of his bed so he could pull on his boots and lace them up while he waited for Kai to come out of the bathroom. It was a few more minutes, during which time Yuriy got to watch Raul and Brooklyn play tonsil hockey.

When Kai did come out, he looked torn between reentering the bedroom and locking himself in the bathroom again. Yuriy snickered at that and beckoned Kai out with a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, they always do that. It's not as if we're crazy or anything."

"Everyone's here for breakfast so you guys better hurry up!" Hiromi squealed, hurrying out of the room with Brooklyn and Raul hot on her heels.

"Everyone?" Kai asked.

"Tyson, Max, Rei, Bryan, Hiro, Me, You, Raul, Brooklyn, and Hiromi." Yuriy explained, "Everyone's here."

Hiro was fidgeting as he sat next to Tyson at the dining room table. He hadn't really forgiven Tyson for his being with Max yet. He should probably do that some time soon. Hiromi was holding out on him until he sorted things out with his little brother. First to enter the room was his wife-to-be. She hurried over to him and leaned down to place an affectionate peck on his lips. Then she took the seat next to him and greeted the other people at the table.

Recently, Max and Tyson had taken to eating breakfast with the Kuznetsov family. So, naturally, breakfast had become Hiro's least favorite time of the day. The tension between him and the couple was almost unbearable at times. Hiromi just loved to rub salt in the wound as she would often pull him into her conversations with Max, who apparently was a long time family friend. He growled at the mere thought of the smug faced bastard sitting across from him.

Next, Raul and Brooklyn appeared joined at the hip they swayed over to Max's side of the table. Raul pounced on Max, whispering and giggling in French. Hiro had yet to ask the petit hacker how and when he learned French. He shook his head. It was when Yuriy entered the room with his arm around Kai's waist that Hiro's blood really started to boil. Yes, he had officially forgiven Yuriy for what he had done to Tyson, he was past that. But for the red headed assassin to just walk into the dining hall like that with some other man right in front of Tyson was uncalled for. Tyson too tensed, but chose to turn towards Max.

This was new. Hiro watched as Tyson bravely struck up a conversation with Max as though nothing was out of place. He didn't appear in the slightest bothered by Yuriy having so publicly entered with a new lover. Hiro grinned proudly. Tyson had really grown up during the time since when he first went out with Max.

"Hiro, are you okay? You haven't touched your food at all." Hiromi turned concerned eyes on him. Hiro shook himself from his thought enough to give his love a reassuring smile.

"I'm fine, just kinda tired after last night." He gave Bryan a sly wink. The mob boss almost choked on his oat meal as he shot Hiromi an incredulous stare. Hiromi flushed bright red and smacked Hiro over the head. Damn, he was definitely going to have a head ache later.

Tyson had practically given up on his relationship with his brother going back to the way it was. As far as he knew, Hiro didn't even consider him his brother anymore. It was sad how far apart they had grown over something so trivial. But as much as Tyson loved his brother, Tyson was old enough to make his own decisions, and that included who he chose to pursue a romantic relationship with.

So now, as the bluenette sat next to his brother, while talking to Max, he felt no tension whatsoever. However, as soon as Yuriy walked into the room, his back stiffened, and it was taking all of his will power not to turn and watch him walk into the dining hall. He had to keep up with the conversation he had started with Max. It was only polite after all. Tyson shook his head to clear his thoughts of Yuriy, but failed. Out of the corner of his eye, Tyson saw Yuriy's arm around Kai's waist. Since when had they started going out? Tyson mentally kicked himself. Listen to what Max is saying. But paying attention to his lover was becoming increasingly hard for Tyson. Max's lips were moving, but no words were coming out; at least, none that Tyson could hear. The presence of Yuriy was driving Tyson insane.

"Max, I'd love to focus on what you're saying to me right now, but nature is calling…loudly." Tyson told him smoothly. Max chuckled at the delivery method, but nodded. Tyson scooted out of his chair and hurried out of the room. Oh great, now where was he going to go? Wait, the bathroom would be just fine. Tyson hurried in as soon as he saw it down the hall.

He slammed the door shut and leant against it. His hair hung in front of his eyes as he shuddered. What was wrong with him? He was over Yuriy; he was in love with Max. He was going out with Max, not Yuriy. After a few minutes of leaning against the door, Tyson was startled by the sound of someone forcing the door open. The bluenette leapt away from the door and whirled around. There was Yuriy, he shut the door behind him and adopted the position Tyson had previously been in.

"Yuriy, w-what do you want?" Tyson stammered.

"Tyson, what's going on? Before you tell me, I know you aren't fine." Yuriy arched an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, technically we aren't on speaking terms, but believe it or not, I do still care for you."

They weren't on speaking terms? Oh yeah, that was Tyson's decision. Wait! Yuriy 'cared' for him? When did THAT happen?

"This might be hard for you to remember, but I know you better than anyone. I know that when you use that clever line of yours you're just trying to get away from things. Since you practically ran out of the dining room, I'm betting it must be something BIG." Yuriy folded his arms across his chest and waited. What he said was true. Yuriy did know him better than anyone else, even Max and Hiro. When he had been with Yuriy, Tyson had opened himself up so completely, it was hard for Yuriy not to know every nook and cranny of him. Tyson sighed. How could he tell Yuriy that he was freaking out because of him?

"It's me isn't it?" Damn mind reader. Tyson raised his gaze so he could look Yuriy in the eyes.

"Kinda."

"And by that you mean it's all me." Yuriy moved off of the door, and before Tyson could stop him, Yuriy's arms were around him. Tyson's heart skipped a beat. He had forgotten how much he had missed those arms around him. He couldn't handle this. If Yuriy didn't get away from him, if Tyson couldn't escape Yuriy's hold, he would definitely start crying. Suddenly, Tyson's old heart ache came back full force; the need to cry was growing stronger.

"Yuriy, please let go of me. P-please, I c-can't handle t-this right now." Tyson's voice began to quiver.

"Tyson…" Yuriy pulled back and looked down just in time to see the first of the many tears streaming down Tyson's face.

"I found a way to stop loving you and you just waltz in here and ruin it! I don't want to love you anymore Yuriy, I don't want to miss you anymore." Tyson sobbed.

Yuriy bit his bottom lip. Tyson wished he could read Yuriy's mind like Yuriy could read his. But he couldn't. Tyson had completely opened himself up to the red head, but he had never opened himself up to Tyson. It was now that he realized this, and it only brought more tears to his eyes. The tears were halted in their path down his cheeks as warm lips caught them. Tyson's eyes widened at the familiar sensation of Yuriy's lips on his skin. He shivered at the touch, and a soft sigh escaped his lips.

"I still love you, just not the way you want me to. I'm so sorry Tyson, I can't do anything to get rid of your pain, but Max can. He really loves you; I know he'll take care of you. I threatened to neuter him with one of my rustier throwing knives if he made you cry." Tyson could feel Yuriy smile against his cheek. "I'm happy for you two. I think I love Kai, and I would be even happier if you could be happy for us too."

"Yuriy…" Tyson whispered, "I'm not sure I can be happy for you yet, but I can try."

"That works for me." Yuriy drew back slightly and paused. He leaned forward again and placed a chaste kiss on Tyson's forehead. A knock on the bathroom door interrupted their moment.

"Tyson, are you okay? If you don't answer me real quick, I'm hoping you'll love me enough to not hate me for barging in while you're taking a piss." Max announced himself crudely, as usual. The sound of Max's voice brought a smile to Tyson's face. Both men shared one last look before pulling away from each other.

Max heard a few shuffling, and soft murmurs from the other side of the door. He scowled. Tyson better not be in there making out with someone else. It was a few minutes before the door opened, and his boyfriend appeared. Yuriy was standing behind him, and Tyson seemed to be entirely unscathed. Max assumed the protective boyfriend role by tugging Tyson into his arms. "What were you doing in the bathroom with Tyson?"

"We were going to try and make a baby, but we only just figured out that wouldn't work after the glorious act was already completed." Yuriy's smirk revealed nothing. For all Max knew, they really had been shagging. Tyson wasn't all that reassuring either, because he played up to Yuriy's story for a few more minutes. The eccentric red head and Tyson's banter went back and forth. Max rolled his eyes and began dragging his love towards the dining hall.

Max didn't want Yuriy to ruin Tyson's special day. He had gotten Tyson a surprise the other day. The papers were all filled out, and the house was officially his. Max had bought a modest three bedroom house in West District. It had a fairly large backyard, and a tall fence around it. He was planning on driving Tyson over there after breakfast.

As luxurious as the inn's suite was, Max was tired of living in a place that wasn't really…home. He wanted to have a house of his own to come home to. Though the small bluenette never commented on it, Max was sure that it bothered Tyson as well. So he was more than a little eager to see Tyson's happy face. As they entered the dining hall, and entertaining sight met their eyes.

Brooklyn growled as he gave Raul a hickey the size of Texas. After Raul's wonderful idea to start teasing him in a most arousing way, Brooklyn had decided to make use of the table. Hiromi and Bryan were continuing to eat as though this weren't an unusual occurrence, which, in all frankness, it wasn't. Brooklyn hated that fact. Yes, making out with Raul was one of his favorite hobbies, but he didn't much care for such public displays of affection. He started grinding his hips against Raul's, and felt great satisfaction as he heard his lover whimper.

Brooklyn summoned all of his inner strength and crawled off of Raul and down from the table. He forced himself to close his eyes and think of anything but the noises that Raul was making. Dead bleeding puppies, Yuriy's face, Hiromi…it was that last revolting thought that erased his lust quicker then a cold shower. Brooklyn smirked at Raul's discomfort as he opened his eyes. Raul was squirming on the table, his legs spread wantonly, with his legs flushed.

"I WIN! Ha, bet you'll think better of teasing me now!" With that, Brooklyn marched out of the room.

**TBC…**


	14. Chapter 14

The XYZ Affair

**The XYZ Affair**

Chapter 14

Yuriy growled at the women who were helping him with his dress. They were whispering things back and forth about his figure, or how brave he was to wear a dress like this one in public. It was demoralizing. Yuriy was completely at their mercy here. They had him in nothing but a slip standing on a pedestal in front of a three fold mirror, with dangerous looking needles in their hands. Mentally he was killing Hiromi for this, then resurrecting her so that he could kill her again.

After what felt like hours, the damned women decided to pull up his dress and fit it to his shoulders. It was modest enough. The dress looked a lot like the slip in the feel; it was pale yellow silk with a white satin sash around the waist. Because it was strapless, Yuriy felt his man shoulders start to bug him. Hiromi put on her wedding dress and she looked fine, she didn't have ugly man shoulders. He pouted at the mirror.

It was then that the best man and his trail of little ducklings decided to enter the room. Brooklyn, Tyson, and Rei paused in the doorway to gape at him. Again, Yuriy cursed his horrible shoulders. He thought everything else was fine; his hair had been smoothed down and pleated into curled sections with yellow ribbons. The makeup on his face was subtle, only a bit of light brown eyeliner and powder on his face. When the women finally let him off of the pedestal he turned to face his friends whom were still gaping.

"What?" He growled, hands on hips.

Tyson was pushed forward to be spokesperson and he barely managed to slur out his next few words, "You're pretty…"

Yuriy smacked his forehead and stomped out of the room. He tried to stomp, but he found out this was hard to do in high heels. Curse these shoes! He shook an angry fist at his feet as he made his way towards the outside wedding.

The cool night air felt nice against his skin. The stars were already being sprinkled through the sky, and if it weren't for the elegantly lit lamp poles lining the area. A frown made it to his lips however as he noticed a colorfully decorated body guard near the entrance. Hiromi thought that it was all her choice that Raul, Max, and Yuriy were her bridesmaids, and that Brooklyn and Tyson were Hiro's groomsmen. Attached to a stronger then lace girdle on his thigh were two of his favorite throwing knives and a small but effective (insert generic hand gun name here).

Bryan had invited a lot of his business friends, and his grand parents and such. But the person sitting at the ends of every other pew were trained body guards, dressed up for a wedding. Yuriy knew for sure that Brooklyn had more than just a few throwing knives on him; they were hidden easily in his boots, and had discreetly placed a few cherry bombs in the breast pocket of his suit jacket. The red head sighed. Hiromi had been made so blissfully unaware of just how secure her wedding had been made. Bryan had made sure of it. Hiromi had Raul, Brooklyn, and Yuriy up there so that they would be more able to protect her and take her away from the area if any of Bryan's not so merciful enemies decided to show up.

There was a tap on his shoulder, and without even turning around Yuriy knew it was Kai. The bluenette had a sixth sense for finding him when he wasn't feeling great. Kai wrapped his arms around Yuriy's waist and kissed his neck. "Come on, Hiromi's going to pop another vein in her forehead if you aren't down there in less then five seconds."

"Hmm." Yuriy smiled softly at that, and allowed Kai to lead him towards the door.

Kai had counted three moments where either Raul, Yuriy, or Brooklyn had discreetly turned around and stabbed someone who had managed to sneak up to the alter and towards Hiromi. How the brunette bride hadn't noticed was amazing to Kai. But, Kai had to give her the benefit of the doubt. Kai had only noticed because a month before the wedding, Yuriy had put him through rigorous training of the senses. His eyes had been trained to notice the slight of hand that the three 'body guards in dresses' were displaying.

He watched another one start to come up from the side through the shadows. Raul hiked up his dress and threw a minute cherry bomb (that had been stuck to his girdle) at the approaching man, all in the matter of five seconds. To the normal spectator it would have appeared that Raul had just taken the moment to straighten out the wrinkles in his dress.

The final words were being uttered by the priest and Hiro and Hiromi shared their first kiss as husband and wife; as they did so, and dart (no doubt poisoned) just barely missed Hiromi. Kai smacked his forehead. The people that hated Bryan this much were not being subtle at all. Kai was again stunned by the obvious ignorance of the people sitting around him. A frightening screech reached his ears. Kai waited for the right moment before throwing up his hand to catch the bullet before it hit anyone. Ow, his fingers were going to hurt for a while. The burning in his fingers, Kai now realized, was the fact that the damned bullet was so hot. The bluenette hissed as he hauled back his hand (with the bullet pressed against his palm), and threw it at another assailant. It hit him in the neck, and it wasn't long before he had fallen over, probably to sputter on the grass.

Kai really wanted to laugh at this point. However serious the situation actually was had abandoned him. It was getting ridiculous. Hiro and Hiromi began their march down the aisle. As they did so, all the body guards subtly put their right hands inside their suit jackets. What a great wedding…

Rei was now leading Max down the aisle. They had been paired up as such: Max/Rei, Tyson/Yuriy, and Brooklyn/Raul. So now they were trailing behind the happy couple who had no clue the amount of corpses that now lay around the alter. He chuckled at the grim humor but tried valiantly to keep it to himself. In minutes they were enjoying a vibrant reception inside.

There was a live band on stage playing soft rock, and a feast awaited them at small round tables lining the dance floor. A sinfully delicious looking wedding cake sat at the buffet table. Rei instantly felt him being drawn towards the cake, but pushed away the feeling. Bryan approached him from the large crowd of people that had just left the pews. A strong arm slid around Rei's waist, and he smiled up at Bryan. Over the few months since their midnight agreement, Rei really had grown to love Bryan. They were happy, and Rei had trouble believing that he had ever protested the arrangement.

Rei sat as close to Bryan as their slightly clumsy chair would allow. Just as Rei was about to strike up a conversation with Bryan, the lavender haired mob boss's attention was fixated on his baby sister. Hiro and Hiromi had just begun their first dance as husband and wife in the middle of the dance floor.

Hiro wanted very badly to be focused entirely on his wife. Huh, he could say that now. That brought a smile to his face. But his head was wrapped around his baby brother, who had mysteriously disappeared once the reception had started. Where had Tyson gone? Their dance was over in minutes. When it was, Hiro claimed that he was going to go and search for a bathroom. Hiromi laughed and nodded. She was just so happy that Hiro could say that he was going to go become a Nazi and she wouldn't give a damn; as long as he came back afterwards. So, the elder Kinomiya was off, in search of his younger brother.

He found Tyson blatantly loitering in the 'no loitering' zone with Max. They were strolling around; scratching parts of themselves they shouldn't be scratching in public places, and over all, loitering. Hiro refrained from laughing at that, though it was difficult.

"Hey guys, what are you doing in here? We're about to cut the cake!" Hiro exclaimed.

Tyson and Max gave him an odd look, "Why are you talking to us?"

"Because a reliable source informed me that you two love sugar, and that wedding cake out there is 100 percent sugar." Hiro replied smoothly.

"Really?" Max had forgotten his previous question and scampered out of the lobby back to the room with the cake. Tyson was about to follow suit but Hiro grabbed his wrist before he could leave.

"Tyson, we can't keep avoiding each other's eyes, and not talking like this. As close as our partners are, it just can't last."

"Whoever told you that?" Tyson roughly freed his wrist from Hiro's grasp.

"Tyson, I'm sorry, alright? I'm sorry that I kicked you out because of Max, and that I hadn't tried to apologize for that. I don't want to fight like this anymore."

Hiro watched Tyson turn his back to him. The elder Kinomiya sighed, watching his brother head for the banquet hall. "Tyson, wait!"

Tyson paused as he was asked, but did not speak nor did he turn around. Hiro's fists clenched at that. How could Tyson not accept his apology? Hiro had been the one expecting an apology from Tyson, and now that he had turned the tables, Tyson still wouldn't talk to him?

"Why won't you just forgive me?" Hiro groaned.

"Does it really matter to you that much?"

"YES!"

Suddenly, Hiro was on the floor and there was a smirking Tyson on top of him. "Aww, I wuv you too big bwother!"

Tyson placed a teasing kiss on Hiro's forehead before standing up and hurrying off towards his beloved cake. Hiro rolled his eyes. Some things never changed.

"Will _brother_ of the bride please come onto the dance floor? It's time for that special dance with the bride." Bryan smirked at that, and walked up onto the dance floor as asked. There stood his baby sister, whom was positively glowing. She tackled him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Bry-bry, I'm married!" She gushed, her eyes beaming up at him.

"Well I'm glad you noticed, or else I think Hiro might have gotten angry."

There were scattered chuckles from the crowd, and the music started up. As Bryan led his sister through the dance, his thoughts were centered on Rei. His boyfriend had finally started living up to his title lately. In fact, Bryan flushed at the memory. Rei still had a stiff walk from _that_ evening. The tiger winked at him from his seat at their table. Rei and Bryan were planning their own wedding for some time in the year after next. Hiromi had latched onto the idea and declared herself their personal wedding planner.

"'Romi, you're always gonna be my baby sister, right?"

"Yeah Bry-bry, course I am." She smiled up at him, "Spin me?"

He complied by twirling her with one hand and bringing her close to him again. "You made a good choice 'Romi, I like this one."

He motioned towards Hiro with a slight tilt of his head. Her grin just got wider. Bryan had always heard that weddings were the happiest day of a person's life. But he hadn't really thought it to be true, until now. Hiromi was just so happy, nothing could ruin this day for her. Bryan had made sure that nothing could even come close. Money didn't matter, whatever his princess wanted, she got. He made sure that she got her dream wedding.

Hiromi tightened her hold on her brother briefly before letting him go. People raced back onto the dance floor, and Hiromi escaped to the tables. Her eyes landed on a pair of happy red heads spinning and swaying to the beat of the music. Raul and Brooklyn were pressed close against each other, exuding happiness like the rest of the people around them. It was then that she noticed a genuine smile on Brooklyn's face, and it was aimed at Raul. They really did make a great couple. She was glad that Brooklyn had finally figured himself out.

Next she saw Yuriy and Kai feeding each other slices of wedding cake. Kai purposely missed and got some on Yuriy's nose, then kissed it off of the red head's face. Yuriy's eyes crossed to look at his nose, and he looked ridiculous. Kai laughed at him, until Yuriy coated Kai's nose in whipped cream. An expertly contained cake fight ensued. Hiromi laughed too. It seemed that Kai had the magical ability to erase Yuriy's player tendencies. Hiromi had kept track of Yuriy's expenses. She had her ways. He hadn't hired any prostitutes since before him and Kai had gotten together.

Yuriy wasn't the only player taught about commitment. Max and Tyson were gorging themselves on the wedding cake. Taking a break every few minutes to kiss each other deeply until air broke them apart. Sitting next to the dumb and hyper were her big brother and Rei. Those two had gotten very close, and Hiromi wasn't the only one surprised by how hard Rei fell for the mob boss. Rei had abandoned his chair in favor of sitting in Bryan's lap. They were speaking softly to one another, their arms wrapped around each other. Hiromi sighed.

She never thought that they'd get here. But apparently she was wrong.

**TBC…**


	15. Chapter 15

The XYZ Affair

**The XYZ Affair**

Chapter 15

Cherry blossoms colored a blush on the warm springtime breeze, and the clouds in the sky turned a candy caramel. It was late afternoon, nearing dinner time. A large group of people were sitting on the large grassy knoll, facing the tangerine sky. Lovers rested comfortably in each others arms, and friends chatted amicably. The tone of the gathering was light hearted, so carefree. Everyone was relaxed, enjoying the simple euphoria of a time spent with family.

Tangerine melted into pink which turned to the deepest indigo. Hours flew away with the chickadees, and silver light reflected on the grass. Melodious laughter carried the night into early morning. Max loosened his hold on Tyson's waist, and began to stand. Setting the scene for a sleepy farewell, the others too began to rise.

Kai adjusted in Yuriy's hold, and turned to give Rei a hug. The whole group was there. Raul and Brooklyn, Kai and Yuriy, Hiro and Hiromi, Max and Tyson, and Bryan and Rei. They had all agreed to meet earlier yesterday morning, and once they had gotten to talking, time became more fluid. The day kept moving while they stayed still in their blissful closeness.

"Yuriy, you have a mission tomorrow night with Raul and Brooklyn, don't forget." Bryan embraced his top hit man and closest friend. Yuriy returned the hug and nodded, "I won't forget Boss."

Bryan shook his head, and watched as his lover said his good byes to everyone. He was distracted by his princess tackling him, "See you later big brother!"

"Use protection." He grumbled. For that he received a playful hit on the arm. Hiro blushed profusely and enveloped Hiromi in his arms. He gave Bryan a nervous nod, and started to lead Hiromi away.

Raul and Max stayed locked in each other's arms longer than the others, and were whispering fiercely to each other in casual French. Brooklyn had obviously poked fun at Yuriy's sex life again, for they were running around the tree near by. Kai shook his head and turned towards Bryan. They silently acknowledged each other, and waited for their lovers to finish up. Rei was finishing saying good bye to Max and Tyson before turning towards Kai. Rei placed a motherly kiss on Kai's forehead.

"I love you, you know?" Kai nodded, "I know."

Rei smiled softly and tightened his hold on Kai momentarily. After he let go, he took Bryan's hand and dragged him towards the parking lot. Kai waved a final good bye. He turned towards Yuriy, who had finally gave up his chase of Brooklyn and was now making his way towards him.

"Come on Yuriy, let's go home. Remember what I bought yesterday." Kai arched his eyebrow suggestively. Yuriy's eyes grew wide at the reminder and started to drag him away. But before he could entirely, he whined in Tyson's direction, "Tysonnnnnn, my ass is gonna hurt!!"

Tyson chuckled at him, and grabbed a hold of Max's arm. He started dragging him away from Raul and towards the parking lot as well. The only ones that were left now were Brooklyn and Raul. Brooklyn moved towards Raul, and took him into his arms. Raul's eyes were glued to the horizon; the sun was starting to rise. They stood there like that, watching the night turn to day.

Finally, Brooklyn pulled Raul towards the car. It was time to go home. ..

_As has been foretold by the creators of all spirits and worlds, the time has come and passed for it all happen. The wolf has fallen in love with the phoenix, a tiger has fallen from grace, and a falcon lifted him up on his wings. A dragon has forgotten his past regrets, and learned to love again. A water sprite now sees past spite, and threw away his mirror. The dragon's kin let old grudges go, and a falcon's most prized possession has broken free. As has been foretold by the creators of all spirits and worlds, the time has come and passed for it all to happen…with a new addition to the prophecy. Two souls so stubborn as to ignore what is in front of them has realized their feelings and embraced their love for one another. _

_**Fin**_


End file.
